Victims of the rape cases don’t get justice as the cases become weak in three stages from the case filed. According to the lawyers, officials of the forensic department and human right workers, the rape case weakens by the dissimilarities between the three stages- police station, physical examination and witness disappearance. Because of the intimidation of socially influential people, the witnesses have a backward tendency. In Bangladesh, among 1,000 convicts, only 4 get punished because those facts hamper the rape cases.
The law enforcers claim that they are only a part of this whole process. The police are not the only liable.
5003 rape cases were filed in the Police One Stop Crisis Center from 2001 to 2015. The percentage of declared judgment is 3.66 and the percentage of punishment is 0.45.
According to the files of police head quarter, in the first 6 months of this year, the verdict of 43, 706 cases have been announced. Among these, 1 lakh convicts were acquitted from 35,000 cases. And among the rape cases, 88.35% convicts were acquitted. In the case of women repression, 95% accused get acquitted from the case.
In many times when the accused become free from the highly talked cases, the question arose why the convicts got acquitted. In other cases, the acquittal of the accused remains unnoticed. In this regard, the concerned people say that a trial process is basically like knitting by needle-yarn. Step by step it gets a logical outcome. If it is hampered in its any stage, it will not be directed properly. Initially, there are three stages where if the right action is not taken, justice cannot be ensured then.
Right activist Lawyer Elena Khan said, ‘The list of accused even after being criminals is becoming long because of three reasons. The weakness of the police in the investigation stage, financial benefit, pressure of the influential and lacking motivation of the witnesses- these facts are behind the reason of this.’ ‘In most of the cases the report of inquest does not match with charge-sheet and post-mortem report, the defendants try to take advantages in the courts,’ she added.
Though Soheli Ferdous, AIG of Media and Public Relation Department of BD police said to the Bangla Tribune, ‘Police are blamed for the dissimilarities between charge sheet and postmortem. But there is no scope to blame police alone. Because of the police inquest is done in the presence of a magistrate. So there is no scope to blame anyone alone.’
Meanwhile, the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Dhaka Metropolitan Session Judge Court (PP) Abdullah Abu said to the Bangla Tribune That, ‘In many cases, the accused are getting acquittal because of weaknesses of investigation and the shortage of witnesses. Again, as cases continue for a long time, witnesses refuse to give the witness statement. They don’t want to cooperate.’ he added ‘if the investigation is not done properly, we don’t have anything to do on the court. Many times complainants compromise with the convicts. All these are the reality.’
Rokeya Kabir, a human right activist, and woman-leader is working with the rape victims for a long time. She told The Bangla Tribune, ‘The cases of rape weaken in Police station, postmortem and witness- in these three steps. The fear of social harassment interrupts the victim to seek justice. While seeking justice the patriarchal environment does not give the victim any comfort. Before going to the court, so many times she has to say about the experience of rape that no longer she dares to continue the case. And it is normal that corrupted officers will go against to the victims of rape who are relatively powerless.’
Advocate Dilruba Sharmin, a member of the Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers Association, told the Bangla Tribune, ‘It is needless to say that by delaying to send for medical tests, the main task of making the case weak is done. The next tasks become easy through this. By managing the witnesses or conducting the case over the years the keenness of the complainants is lessened and by this importance of the case is also reduced.” She also said, ‘In the social reality of our country, the case can be weakened by proving that the woman has experienced the sexual intercourse before. It is essential to change the whole situation.’
/UI/FS/APH/
