Human rights activists and social organisations held a human chain in Satkhira on Wednesday, demanding the arrest and trial of those involved in the murder of child Apratim and other innocent children.
The demonstrators gathered at the Shaheed Minar in the town.
Human rights activist and Swadesh Executive Director Madhab Chandra Dutta chaired the programme.
MSF Coordinator Adv Saidur Rahman, senior journalists Kalyan Banerjee and M Kamruzzaman, Mahila Parishad President Anjuara Mili, Mahila Parishad General Secretary Jyotsna Dutta, civic leader Ali Nur Khan Babul, Abdus Samad, Abu Jafor Siddique, SIDO Director Shyamal Biswas, Adv Moniruddin, Selina Hasin, Adv Nahid Shams, HEAD Director Lewis Rana Gain, Md Bayezid Hossain, Nusrat Jahan, Shehnaz Parvin and Jarin Tasnin, among others, addressed the human chain.
The speakers expressed deep concern over the alarming rise in child disappearances and murders across the country.
Citing statistics from rights organisation Ain o Salish Centre (ASK), they said authorities recovered the bodies of 36 children after they went missing during the first eight months of the year.
Various incidents killed 155 children during the same period, including 68 through physical torture, 49 in domestic settings and 26 after rape.
Police Headquarters data showed that 15,717 children went missing between January and July. Authorities rescued 13,679 of them, while 2,038 children remain missing.
The speakers said the government must take a firm stance and enforce strict administrative measures to address the dire situation.
Representatives of various social and human rights organisations joined the demonstration, including Swadesh, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, Manabadhikar Sanskriti Foundation (MSF), HRDF, HRD Coalition, Human Rights Lawyers Forum, HRD Network, Uttaran, SIDO, HEAD, Crescent Youth School Girls Group and Sundarban Foundation, among others.
