A deep sickness

It was more than a decade ago now when then eleven-year-old Aduri was found in a dustbin with cuts and burn marks all over her body, a result of the intense abuse and physical torture she had to endure as a hired house help at the hands of her employer Nourin Jahan.

While Aduri’s case was the subject of a rare instance of justice being rightfully served, with her abusive employer being sentenced to a life in prison in addition to a monetary fine, the practice of abusing household help is disturbingly common in Bangladesh and any cases being lodged against offending employers always run into a dead end.

According to a recent Dhaka Tribune story, Aduri’s is the only single instance of a domestic help abuse case resulting in a verdict. Experts claim that the reason behind this state of affairs is an unwillingness on the part of law enforcement to follow through with such cases coupled with a culture of impunity on the part of perpetrators. 

While abuse of any form is absolutely reprehensible, what makes such cases even more disturbing is that the victims are almost always minor girls. This paints a dire picture about the state of child labour in Bangladesh, where girls as old as 10 years old or even younger are sent by their families into unknown territory to eke out a living while also having to suffer inhumane behaviour from their employers.

These are heart-breaking stories which point to a deep sickness running through our society.

It is nothing short of a failure on the part of law enforcement for their inability to follow through with these cases, this is where the change needs to begin. The interim government must make it a part of its ongoing efforts to reform the police so that any cases or charges brought by victims of such abuse are seen through.