Beauty's rape and murder

The rape and murder of 16-year-old Beauty Akter has left us at a loss for words. The blood-curdling story behind the tragic incident should make all of us feel ashamed of the society we live in.

Beauty, who lived in Habiganj, Sylhet, was stalked and harassed on her way to work by Babul Mia and his accomplices. After she complained about the harassment, she was kidnapped from her home, taken to an unidentified place where she was kept hostage for a month (January 21–Febraury 21), and raped by Babul Mia. Beauty's father, a day labourer, filed a rape and abduction case against Babul Mia and his mother, a UP member, in Habiganj's Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal. As if Beauty hadn't been tortured enough, Babul Mia reportedly kidnapped her again after the case against him was filed, then raped her, killed her, and left her dead body in the haor.

It was Beauty's misfortune that she was born into a society where sexual violence against women has become normalised to the point where rapists feel emboldened to commit such dastardly acts. Beauty's fate is a result of a culture of impunity in which law enforcement, justice system, and political leadership are all complicit. Why was Babul not apprehended when the court had ordered Shayestaganj thana to arrest the accused on March 4 (around two weeks before Beauty's body was found)? As of the time of writing this editorial, Babul has been evading arrest.

Babul's sense of impunity is not surprising given the fact that his mother, being a UP member, wields political clout. There seems to be very little effort to stem the tide of violence against women in a country where in the last five years, less than two percent of rape cases have ended in conviction. On the one hand, we hear rosy rhetoric about women's empowerment while on the other, there is no security or protection for girls like Beauty. This case should be shifted to a speedy trial and Babul Mia and his accomplices must be awarded the harshest punishment.