Rape continues unabated

Incidents of rapes continue unabated even after enactment of law introducing death penalty for the rapists or 'rigorous imprisonment' for life.
The government amended the previous law following unprecedented protests across the country against sexual assaults. 
The previous provision stipulated a maximum of life in prison for rape.
Many have welcomed the government's decision to introduce the death penalty but gang rapes continued even after the enactment of new law.
Some, however, say it will take more than the death penalty to fundamentally shift attitudes towards sexual violence in Bangladesh.
Many rape incidents go unreported because women fear that they will be stigmatized, according to human rights advocates, and in cases that are reported conviction rates are extremely low.
Protesters galvanized by viral video demanded faster trials and changes to the way rape cases are prosecuted.
Protests in Dhaka and elsewhere erupted after video emerged showing several men stripping and attacking a woman from a disadvantaged community in Noakhali.
The video, posted on social media on 4 October, shows a woman being stripped of her clothes, slapped, kicked and punched by a group of five men for almost half an hour.
The beating, which was recorded from start to finish and is believed to have taken place on 2 September, is the latest incident in an escalating wave of violence against women in the country.
Amnesty International in Bangladesh said the new 'disturbing footage demonstrates the shocking violence that Bangladeshi women are routinely being subjected to' and called for a thorough and impartial investigation.
Even before the video footage emerged anger had been brewing since several members of the ruling party's student wing were arrested    and charged with gang raping a woman in northern Sylhet.
According to the local human rights organization 'Ain-o-Salish Kendra (ASK)', between January and September 2020 nearly 1,000 rape cases were reported, including 208 gang rapes.
According to a lawyer, a rapist should never be allowed to escape punishment even if they try to broker a marriage deal with his target.
"Delayed and lower conviction rate discourage many rape survivors to pursue cases against their perpetrators, who eventually secure bail from courts. As per statistics, one in four cases of rapes in India ends in conviction."
"Justice delayed is justice denied. If justice is prompt, it will instill fear among sexual predators that they can't go scot-free by taking advantage of the country's long-drawn judicial system. Moreover, it will save the rape survivors from being haunted by flashbacks and nightmares," said the lawyer.
However, some activists believe that stricter punishment without addressing the root cause of the crimes against women may not be a strong deterrent.