Humanrights Monitoring Report June-July 2010

Murder: From June 1 to July 31, total 234 people were killed for various reasons   such as terrorist attack, robbery, clashes for land and properties, dowry, rape, acid throwing etc. In June, this number was 145 while in July it reduced to 89. Among these victims 94 were women (June 61, July 33), 127 were (June 78, July 49) men and 13 were children (June 6, July 7).

Violence against women:

Dowry: In June, 5 women were killed for dowry when in July it became 14.  In addition 8 women were severely tortured for this purpose. These incidents happened in Mymensing, Madaripur, Bazitpur, Tangail, Rajshahi, Dhaka, Narayanganj, Keraniganj, Brahmanbaria, Manikganj, Gopalganj, Bhola and Munshiganj. The deceased are Nilufar Iasmin, Khadija Begum, Champa Ghosh, Kona Akhter, Shurma Begum, Shumi Akhter, Nilufar, Sonia, Pakhi Akhter, Jhuma Debnath,Bilkis Akhter, Rina Akhter, Shirina Akhter, Shilpi Akhter, Shabitri Bishwash, Shahinur, Najma, Ankura Begum and Kohinur.

Acid Throwing: During the period of June- July 2010, 12 persons were victim of acid violence. Among them 8 women, 1 child and 3 were men. Previous enmities, clashes for properties, rejection of proposals were the main reasons behind this violence.

Rape: In June, 15 women were raped among them 2 were children. In July, this number was 18 and among them there was an eight years old child. Of these victims, 6 women and 2 children were killed after rape. These incidents happened in Shariatpur, Kishorganj, Chittagong, Tangail, Mymensing, Narayanganj, Dinajpur, Shirajganj, Jessore, Gazipur, Pirojpur, Barishal, Nababganj, Satkhira and Comilla. The deceased are Bakul Begum (Shariatpur), Nazma Begum (Kishorganj), Akhter Begum (Chittagang), Farzana (Tangail), Khushi Khatun (Shirajganj) and an unidentified girl (Pirojpur).

Suicide: In June and July, total 31 incidents of suicide happened. Among them 24 were women and 7 were men. The main causes are poverty, dowry, family conflict, eve teasing etc. These occurred in Dhaka, Mymensing, Pirojpur, Lalmonirhat, Narayanganj, Lakshmipur, Manikganj, Bogra, Gaibandha and Chittagang. 17 people in June and 14 people in July committed suicide.

Violence against the journalists: In July a journalist named Shaumitro Manob of The Daily Janakantha was threatened by a criminal Abdul Matin for publishing an article on his illegal activity regarding sand lifting. This time the terrorists attacked some other journalists as they came forward to tackle the situation.