Oh. My. Gosh. You will not believe what just happened in Bangladesh—like, people are so done with the justice system that they literally just burned down a guy’s house because they’re that fed up. And honestly? The whole situation is so tragic, infuriating, and just… ugh.
So, here’s the deal. In Magura, Hitu Sheikh, was arrested because he allegedly raped an eight-year-old girl—yes, you read that right, a literal child—and she tragically died from her injuries. Like, it’s beyond horrifying. The poor girl had been visiting her sister when this happened on March 6, and she was in and out of hospitals, from Magura Sadar Hospital to Faridpur Medical College Hospital and then all the way to Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s ICU. And after all that, she still didn’t make it. She passed away on March 13, and honestly, the whole country just lost it.
Her funeral was massive—like, thousands of people showed up at Nomani Ground, all heartbroken and furious. And then, later that evening, people were like, “Nope, we’re not waiting for justice,” and stormed Hitu Sheikh’s house in Nijnanduali village and straight-up burned it to the ground. Like, full-on torched it. Apparently, by then, he and his entire family—his son Shojib Sheikh, his other son Ratul Sheikh, and their mom Jabeda Begum—were already arrested, so it wasn’t like he was even there, but people were that angry.
This isn’t even the first time something like this has happened in Bangladesh. People are so over how rape cases are handled there. The legal system is just, like, so slow, so corrupt, and so bad at actually punishing these guys. Like, in 2023 alone, over 1,000 rape cases were reported, and guess what? Less than 3% led to convictions. That’s not justice. That’s a joke. Most cases don’t even go to court because of all these shady shalish deals where families get pressured to “settle” things outside the law, and, like, what even is that? Some rapists literally just pay off the victim’s family, and boom—case closed.
And the worst part? The way society treats victims is so messed up. Like, instead of helping them, people are out here blaming them—questioning what they were wearing, why they were out, or even, get this, forcing them to marry their rapist so their family won’t be “dishonored.” It’s so beyond backwards. Girls are literally afraid to report rape because they know they’ll get shamed and their attacker might just walk free anyway. And when rapists do get arrested? It can take years before they ever see a courtroom. No wonder people are taking matters into their own hands.
This isn’t the first time Bangladesh has had these huge protests about sexual violence either. Remember 2019? When Nusrat Jahan Rafi was murdered after reporting her rapist? Or 2020, when that horrifying gang-rape video went viral and people lost it in the streets? That time, the government was like, “Okay, okay, we’ll make rape punishable by death,” but, like… what’s the point if no one’s actually getting convicted?
And now, here we are again. After this little girl’s death, students and activists all over Bangladesh are protesting hard. Like, Dhaka University is packed with people demanding actual change, and the High Court just said investigators have 30 days to finish the case and the trial needs to be wrapped up in six months. But, like, people have heard this before. Every time there’s a massive case, officials act like they’re gonna fix everything, and then… nothing changes.
People are desperate for justice, and this latest tragedy is just another example of how deep the frustration runs. Rather than acts of destruction, many are calling for real legal reform, faster trials, and actual accountability.
XOXO,
Valley Girl News
Photo Credit: Getty Images
