Bangladeshi women protest (Image: AP)
It was a chilling murder — a body discovered face down with a disturbing note fastened around its neck. The note read: “I am Sajal. I am the rapist of [victim’s name]. This is my punishment.”
Mahmud Hasan, chairman of Shaulakania Union — Bangladesh’s smallest local government unit — told Al Jazeera: “The body was found lying face down. There was a wound near his left eye. It seemed like a bullet wound. But strangest was the note that hung around his neck.
“It felt strange and scary to see this happen in my area … but it also felt like justice.” The man, Sajal, had been accused of raping a teenage student, reports the Daily Star.
A series of vigilante-style killings occurred within weeks of one another in 2019, fuelled by public outrage over a surge in rape cases across the South Asian nation. Just a week prior to Sajal’s death, two further victims were discovered with notes tied around their necks. One man’s body was uncovered in a village in the south-western district of Jhalakathi.
Officers found the second victim, who appeared to have sustained a bullet wound to the head, in Savar, nearly 200 miles away. Despite the considerable distance between the two locations, this victim bore a strikingly similar note around his neck, which read: “I am the prime accused in a rape case.”
Hundreds of Bangladeshi women activists stand before the national parliament building to protest crime against women (Image: AP)
The body was identified as Ripon, 39, a key suspect in the gang rape and murder of a female garment worker. A third man, Rakib Molla, 28, accused of being Sajal’s accomplice, was discovered near a brickfield in Jhalakathi.
Molla had suffered numerous injuries to both his body and head. The accompanying note strongly implied vigilantes were responsible for the latest killing, and on this occasion appeared to be signed by the vigilante using an “alter ego”.
It read: “I am Rakib who raped [victim’s name]. This is the fate of the rapist. Rapists be aware … Hercules.”
Authorities were unable to establish the identity of “Hercules” or those responsible for the killings.
“Local police are investigating. We don’t see any need for further investigation from headquarters. At this point, we are not even sure that the same person or the group is doing these murders,” Sohel Rana, Additional Inspector General of Police Headquarters, told Al Jazeera. “This Hercules could be anyone,” he said.
Relatives of two of the victims stated they had been collected by plain-clothed individuals prior to their bodies being discovered.
Abul Kalam, Molla’s father, revealed to Al Jazeera that following the rape allegations against his son, Molla had fled the village for Nabinagar, near the capital. Molla was drinking tea with a companion when a black microbus pulled up and took them both away.
“His friend was later released and he told us that Rakib was picked up by the police. His mother tried to file a general complaint of a missing person but the police station didn’t take it,” Kalam said. “His dead body was later found. I believe the police killed him.”
Shamsun Nahar, Sajal’s wife, stated her husband, who had been acquainted with Rakib, left their home following the rape accusations levelled against him.
“On the night of January 22, he called me and told me that he was heading towards the port city of Chittagong. That was the last call. There was no trace of him until January 26 when we found his body near our village,” she said.
Ripon’s wife, Rikta Begum, stated her husband was taken from their Ashulia home near Dhaka by individuals in civilian clothing who presented themselves as detective branch (DB) officers. “Six days later, we found him dead,” said Begum.
An 18-year-old female garment factory worker was discovered dead at her home just hours after lodging a case against Ripon and three additional individuals.
Shawkat Alam, inspector at Savar police station overseeing Ripon’s murder investigation, dismissed the prospect that the teenager played any part in the killing. “As far as we have found, Ripon went into hiding after there was a case filed against him for rape and murder,” Alam said.
Mohammad Zahid Hossain, officer-in-charge at Rajapur police station investigating Rakib’s murder, stated: “We are still investigating,” while dismissing the possibility that the civilian-clothed individuals implicated in Rakib’s disappearance and subsequent death were police officers. In the case of Sajal’s murder, the investigating officer believes a professional hitman is responsible.
“Sajal had a single wound in the head. He was probably shot in a point-blank range,” Gazi Fazlur Rahman told Al Jazeera.
Ain-o-Salish Kendra, a Dhaka-based human rights organisation, reported that a total of 732 women and 444 children were raped in 2018 – representing an 18 per cent increase compared with 2017.
At least 79 rape incidents occurred in January alone in 2019 – which is when these killings began. Between January 2014 and December 2017, 17,289 cases of rape involving women and children were recorded, home affairs minister Asaduzzaman Khan told parliament.
Nearly 80 per cent of those cases remain unresolved.
“All of these incidents had happened during a time when there is serious discontent among the public about rape. The Subarnachar rape incident of a mother of four just after the general elections had enraged the country,” said Liton.
“The recent killings naturally raise a lot of questions, especially considering the facts that the country has a long tainted record of extrajudicial killings,” said Liton.
“The government should launch proper investigations to probe these murders. No one should be allowed to be killed extrajudicially.”
