Amid a spate of child rapes and murders, the gruesome Mirpur episode has sparked widespread panic among parents over their children’s safety.
Compounding the crisis is a growing backlog of cases in the courts. Lawyers note that while high-profile incidents that cause public uproar are investigated and tried relatively quickly, others languish for years.
On Tuesday, a seven-year-old child in Mirpur was raped and subsequently beheaded by a neighbour, according to police. Data from the Ain O Salish Kendra paints a grim picture: at least 165 children were raped and murdered between January and March of this year alone.
Furthermore, at least 67 children were sexually abused by acquaintances, including teachers, domestic workers, and neighbours. Over a 16-month period from January 2025 to April of this year, 522 children lost their lives, an average of 32 per month.
During this same timeframe, 1,223 children were subjected to extreme abuse, including rape, averaging more than 76 victims per month. The actual number of incidents is likely much higher because these statistics are compiled solely from media reports.
Md Rezaul Karim Sohag, assistant professor of Criminology at Dhaka University, told TIMES of Bangladesh, “Psychological disorders often develop in murderers and rapists during childhood. If their emotional needs are not met by their families, they later suffer from mental distress and depression, leading to an inferiority complex. To overcompensate, they attempt to assert artificial dominance by abusing children.”
Case records indicate that these perpetrators often have a history of truancy, drug addiction, and social isolation from an early age.
Crucially, if they believe they might be caught after committing a rape, they frequently resort to murdering the child. Statistics show these crimes are predominantly committed by someone close to the family or known to the victim.
‘Whom should we tell?’
For working mothers in Dhaka, parenting has transformed into a state of perpetual vigilance. Nahida Khanam, a lawyer, told TIMES, “My daughter remains at school, and we have staff at home, but the fear never leaves me. I’ve installed CCTV cameras throughout the house and synchronised them to my phone. I watch her throughout the day while I’m at work.”
Journalist Farah Jabin Shammy echoes this gripping anxiety. “I am on edge until my daughter walks through the college gates,” she said. “She doesn’t trust anyone, and I accompany her everywhere, even to coaching centres. The panic sets in easily because you never know what will happen. Until the justice system works fairly, this won’t stop. But who should we complain to now?”
In Mirpur, the anxiety is just as palpable. “We want our children to be raised well, but now we are suspicious of every single space,” said resident Rashida Akhter, whose 12-year-old daughter, Soha, commutes to school and coaching by van. “If the van is even slightly late, I begin to panic.”
Saiful Islam, a parent from Gazipur, notes that the baseline trust children once had in their safety has been completely eroded.
This terror crosses gender lines, affecting boys just as severely.
Sumana Begum from Old Dhaka recently withdrew her two sons, six-year-old Nehal and eight-year-old Tanjim, from a Jatrabari madrasa after learning about the recurring abuse inside religious seminaries.
“In this country, giving birth feels like a crime,” Sumana lamented. “Can parents guard their children round-the-clock? We send our children to these places with a sliver of trust. If those sanctuaries turn into hunting grounds, where are people supposed to go?” she asked.
Though sexual abuse within madrasas has been discussed in hushed tones for years, addressing it legally remains incredibly challenging due to religious sensitivities.
However, the numbers speak for themselves: data compiled by the human rights organisation ASK reveals that 211 cases of sexual assault and rape were reported in various madrasas nationwide between 2020 and 2025.
No justice without outrage
The rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Magura in March 2025 sparked nationwide outrage, leading to an exceptionally swift verdict in less than two and a half months. According to police, the perpetrator, Hitu Sheikh, assaulted the young girl on 5 March 2025. She tragically succumbed to her injuries at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka on 13 March.
Driven by public pressure, the government acted swiftly. On 17 May of that year, Judge M Zahid Hasan of the Magura Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal sentenced Hitu Sheikh to death. The case is currently awaiting its final appeal disposal in the High Court.
However, cases that fail to generate public uproar face severe delays in both investigation and trial, a systemic failure that experts say heightens the vulnerability of children.
Currently, more than 3,000 cases remain pending in the Dhaka Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunals alone, a large portion of which involve crimes against children.
Lawyers and prosecutors point to critical bottlenecks within the system.
Shamsuddoha Sumon, state prosecutor at the Dhaka Metropolitan Court, told TIMES, “There are two main reasons for these delays: the prolonged investigation phase and the difficulty of producing witnesses in court. It is often tough to track down witnesses, especially when investigating officers are transferred to other stations, disrupting the case flow.”
Fahmida Akhter, a lawyer at Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s One-Stop Crisis Centre (OCC), highlighted another major hurdle, “Failing to receive medical and forensic reports on time severely stalls the legal process.”
Despite these structural hurdles, Omar Faruk Farooqui, Public Prosecutor (PP) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court, maintained an optimistic stance. “The current government is highly proactive regarding trials for child rape and murder. We are confident that exemplary punishment will be handed down for these heinous crimes very soon.”
Yet, for the families left behind, hope has turned to bitter disillusionment.
The father of the child recently murdered in Mirpur openly expressed his despair to reporters: “I don’t even want a trial for my daughter’s murder. You won’t be able to deliver justice anyway.”
The child’s mother echoed his heartbreak. “I don’t want justice,” she said, weeping. “Because justice simply does not happen in this country.”
In response to the growing crisis, eight Supreme Court lawyers have formally petitioned the chief justice to form a special bench dedicated to the speedy disposal of death references and appeals in child rape and murder cases, citing the massive backlog and current judicial limitations.
In the political sphere, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed assured the public that the recent child murder in Mirpur would be thoroughly investigated with a charge sheet filed immediately.
Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman has also directed the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner to submit the official investigation report within a week.
Emphasising the core of the issue, Nusrat Jahan, lawyer and Deputy Director of SOS Children’s Villages Bangladesh, told TIMES, “Ending violence against children is not just a humanitarian duty; it is a fundamental prerequisite for building a just society. Everyone must fulfil their responsibilities, driven by state-level initiatives treated with the absolute highest priority.”
