BD women alarmed by emboldened Islamists

Interim govt head condemns 'horrific acts of violence'

DHAKA:

Arrested for sexually harassing a Bangladeshi university student, Asif Sardar Arnab was soon released — greeted by a cheering crowd who presented him with flower garlands.

His alleged victim was a student who enthusiastically supported the youth-led uprising that overthrew the Muslim-majority nation's autocratic government last year.

That young woman, after receiving a torrent of violent threats from religious hardliners emboldened by the political upheaval, now wonders whether she made the right choice.

"A perpetrator was freed because of a mob," she said in a social media post.

"You can't imagine the number of rape and death threats I've received," added the woman, who cannot be identified due to Bangladeshi laws designed to protect sexual harassment complainants from retribution.

"We made a mistake by joining the movement. So many people sacrificed their lives in vain."

Several recent cases of sexual violence have captured public attention.

An eight-year-old girl died Thursday from wounds she sustained during a rape days earlier — a case that prompted days of protests and vigils by women in Dhaka and elsewhere.

Such is the level of public anger that police have begun transporting rape suspects to court in the middle of the night, fearful of attacks.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who leads the interim government which replaced Hasina, condemned the "horrific acts of violence" against women.

"This is deeply concerning and completely at odds with our dream of building a new Bangladesh," he said.

Yunus's administration has struggled to restore law and order, with many police officers refusing to return to work and the army brought in to help. It has since last month also directed scant police resources to a sweeping crackdown, dubbed Operation Devil Hunt, against gangs allegedly connected to Hasina and working to foment unrest.