We laud the Tangail Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal as well as the law enforcers involved in the swift resolution to the sensational Rupa rape and murder case. The court and the other authorities concerned have set an example in the area of the country's justice system by completing the proceedings of the case in just 14 working days.
This exemplary act of the court in ensuring proper and speedy resolution to the case is expected to contribute to restore people's faith in the court especially at the present point of time when the numbers of sexual violence against girls and women are ever on the rise in the country owing mainly to delays and alleged laxity by the law enforcers to act sternly against the perpetrators. We do also expect the verdict in which four of the condemned convicts have been handed down capital punishment is expected to act as a deterrent against recurrence of such incidents and a warning against the perpetrators.
It is pertinent to note here that the ghastly incident of killing 27-year-old law student Rupa following her gang-rape on a moving bus in Tangail on August 25 last year shook the national conscience and social media as well as the mainstream media raised loud voice against the brutality. Pressure created by the media and various women rights groups have of course influenced the authorities to go for prompt action against the criminals, which eventually culminated into the exemplary verdict. Still, there are innumerable other instances that show only pressure created by media and other pressure groups cannot ensure justice.
Take for example the case of theatre activist Shohagi Jahan Tonu of Comilla, whose dead body was recovered from inside Mainamati Cantonment. Tonu's murder case did also create loud public outcry, probably much louder than the Rupa murder, across the country, but no headway could have been made into the incident in nearly two years after the incident. And what about the murder case of Mahmuda Aktar Mitu, wife a former police officer Babul Akhtar, of Chittagong? These two cases and innumerable others like these only remind us that we have still a long way to go in this respect.
The verdict of Rupa murder case shows that if honest intention is shown by authorities concerned, perpetrators of woman repressions can be brought to justice. We only hope every other case like this will also be dealt with such honest intention. We do not want to believe that Rupa's family has got justice because unlike in hundreds of other cases as those of Tonu and Mitu the offenders in their case are less influential in society.
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