Lakingme Chakma’s Death: Two int’l rights groups demand enquiry into PBI team, public prosecutor

International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) and Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) on Saturday demanded divisional enquiry into the Police Bureau of Investigation (PIB) team and Cox's Bazar public prosecutor over negligent handling of Lakingme Chakma's abduction case. 

They also demanded immediate action against those involved in Lakingme's abduction, forced conversion, child marriage, rape, and instigation for suicide/murder, and an impartial investigation into her death as well as release her autopsy report.

In the statement, they demanded punishment for those involved in forging Lakingme's birth certificate, her forced conversion, and the marriage of a minor.

They urged Bangladesh government to take the initiative for the safety and care of Lakingme's baby and ensure security for her family and their proper compensation.

Fourteen-year-old Lakingme was allegedly abducted from her home in Shilkhali Chakmapara of Teknaf on January 5 last year. According to her birth certificate, she was 14 years and 10 months old on that day.

Police on December 10 called Lakingme's father Lala Aung to visit Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital morgue to identify his daughter's body. Accordingly, the father went to the hospital and identified her.

Law enforcers, however, did not hand him the body on that day, saying that the girl was married to one of her alleged abductors, who managed a "birth certificate" that says she was 18.

Twenty-five days after her mysterious death, Lakingme's parents received their daughter's body on January 4 to bury her.