Action against acid attack and dowry

Yesterday, March 2nd, I read a pathetic story in Daily Star of an 18 years old girl. Her name is Nila and she is a victim of an acid attack, and the criminal is her husband.
Nila was married to one Akbar Hossain, an ex-expatriate from Saudi Arabia. He did not demand any dowry and there was no quarrel for which Akbar, the horrendous monster, attacked Nila with acid in the middle of the night. What Nila recalls is that the fiend was angry at her because she wanted to visit her parents. He was very upset for such a trifle matter. Nila tried to settle the issue but the cruel beast did not calm down.
After dinner, he went to the market and bought some acid. At midnight, when Nila woke up, she saw him sitting on a chair with his eyes bloodshot out of anger. When she asked him what had happened, the brute just walked up to her with a glassful of acid and poured it over her head. The action was quick and the result was total destruction of Nila's face with deep burns. Nila is now under treatment in a hospital. Her normal life, for sure, is fully obliterated if she survives.My heart bleeds at the tragedy that occurred due to deliberate act by a criminal husband.
Today, March 3rd, I read another sad story in the Daily Star, about a 22 years old housewife, with a 3 year old, child who died at Dhaka Medical College hospital on February 22. Her name is Rupa Begum and she died after her husband and in-laws allegedly set her on fire as her family refused to give dowry. Rupa was married in 2003 to one Manik Bepari, and her family gave Tk 50,000, gold ornaments and furniture worth Tk One lakh as dowry. After six months, Manik and his family demanded Tk One lakh again for sending Manik to Saudi Arabia. They often tortured Rupa to get the demand fulfilled, and on February 22, after an argument, Manik and his family members set her on fire; ninety percent of her body was burnt and she died after 10 days.
These sorts of news reports from Bangladesh are the worst sorts of criminal stories one can read about in the Bangladeshi media. What has gone wrong with the people there? How on earth can one be so cruel and inhuman to a fellow human being? We know life is tough and poverty is rampant but Bangladesh was never such a land of criminals as it is today than it was, say 35 years ago, even though economically the country is much better off than it ever has been. Corruption and criminality seem to be the way of life in Bangladesh. Can something be done about it? Let Bangladesh government and the civil society ponder for a while, and let them do something to cure, at least, the two above mentioned diseases.
Acid throwing and setting fire to women are crimes that need immediate action, and it cannot and should not wait one more day. These sorts of crimes are horrendous, and equally merciless action must be taken against those who commit such crimes.
I am against all sorts of capital punishment; it is against human dignity and no doubt it becomes a crime against a crime. Nobody has the right to take someone's life, for whatever reason it may be. Any action by which someone, even a criminal, is killed by firing squad or by hanging is no good. Life is precious by all means. But in a country like Bangladesh, and when acid throwing and setting fire to women have become common, I strongly recommend that capital punishment be the only punishment for such crimes.
Action against dowry is also over-due. Girls from Bangladesh's Hindu community were the victims of this crime for centuries. Now it has become a norm even among the Muslims. There should be laws, if there are no such laws as yet in Bangladesh, that forbid acid throwing, setting fire and dowry taking. These offences should be punished properly, specially the first two crimes. Acid throwers and woman burners, without a second thought, should be executed by firing squad or by hanging. I suggest that the caretaker government evoke this type of law immediately, and use it mercilessly against acid throwers or woman burners. I beg the readers for forgiveness for suggesting such a law, but considering the graveness of the crimes I go even further to say that such a criminal may be executed publicly in the city square. Horrendous crimes need to be tackled by equally ruthless means.
Dowry is a criminal act, and it shows utmost dishonour to women. Anybody who claims dowry should be considered a criminal, and such a criminal should be punished. Huge fines, and even 3-5 years jail sentences may be introduced as punishment for anybody who demands dowry or agrees to paid dowry. It is time that Bangladesh learns to respect and protect her woman folk.

Tayeb Husain writes from Sweden.