Vicious attacks on girls
We are horrified by the direction we are headed in regards to the security of women and, indeed, their treatment in society in general. Two 16-year-old twin sisters were indiscriminately beaten on Wednesday while waiting at the bus stand and a 15-year-old tenth-grader was hacked in the yard of her house as she was returning home. All three were minors and victims of sexual harassment. What kind of a society stands for such brutality against young girls?
The two incidents are disturbing, more so, given the spate of recent episodes of extreme violence perpetrated against women, especially young girls. One such incident was the brutal hacking of Khadiza Begum Nargis by Badrul Alam, that too, in broad daylight in the midst of numerous bystanders who refused to come to her aid initially. Then there was the stabbing of 14-year-old Zakia Sultana — a student of Class VIII — for turning down a proposal from her stalker who also happened to be the perpetrator.
And in the case of the two sisters getting beaten up, locals and witnesses again did not intervene as the man had influence in the area. Despite a clear directive from the High Court to treat sexual harassment as a punishable crime, in reality the lack of enforcement of the law has given criminals the audacity to carry out these crimes.
To save society from the dire consequences of this destructive trend, the authorities must apprehend all perpetrators of violence against women and punish them exemplarily and in quick time.
Comments