Killings are on the rise in the country over trivial incidents like family feuds, property disputes and pre-enmity murders.
According to a police statistic, Killings due to family feuds account for more than 21 per cent, property disputes account for more than 13 per cent, and enmity murders account for more than 10 per cent.
On June 22 last year in Debhata of Satkhira, a young man named Salauddin Sana, 28, was accused of hacking his father-in-law to death while he was sleeping after receiving a divorce notice from his wife. A week after that incident, he was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Dhaka's Keraniganj. Over the past few years, such social crime has become a horrifying picture in the country.
On July 16 last year at Gabtali in Bogra, two youths named Motaleb alias Khokon and Nahid were playing in the same team in a football match organized by the local youth association. Their team fell behind 2-1 goal. They were awarded a penalty shot on a foul with about a minute left in the game.
Earlier, Nahid scored the team's only goal as a striker. Everyone including the team captain agreed to give the penalty shot to Nahid to equalize the game. But Khokon kept on trying to take that penalty shot. When Nahid was preparing for a penalty shot, Khokon pushed him into the field and continued to beat him. Then Nahid's cousin Mamun protested.
Due to this dispute with Mamun, Khokon plans to teach him. After that, Khokon seriously injured Mamun by cutting him with a sharp knife in front of a local shop. The next day, on July 17, Mamun died while undergoing treatment at Bogra Medical College Hospital.
There were more than a thousand such incidents across the country. The number of Killings in Dhaka last year was 177 which are 11 more than in 2021. The number of Killings that year was 166.
According to the data of the police headquarters, from 2010 to 2021, there were 45, 146 Killings across the country. In 2021, the number of Killings across the country is 3, 458. The previous year in 2020, the number of Killings was 3,539. In 2019, this number was 3, 653.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) case data shows that there are more Killings in Dhaka's Wari and Mirpur.
Out of 177 murders in Dhaka last year, 37 happened in Wari and 31 in Mirpur. In 2021 also 35 were in Wari and 26 in Mirpur.
According to DMP statistics, 21 Killings each took place in Gulshan and Motijheel, 17 each in Uttara and Lalbagh, 16 in Ramna and 13 in Tejgaon last year.
Analyzing the crime data of 2022 and 2021, police officials said that there are more crime incidents in areas where low income and floating people live in the capital.
Touhidul Haque, Assistant Professor, Institute of Social Welfare and Research, University of Dhaka said, “Fights that take place over trivial reasons should also be taken into account by law enforcement agencies. Those involved in these incidents should be brought to justice quickly.”
“It is also necessary to research why these things are happening. And because of the deterioration of relations, one side is attacking the other side. It increases in some areas and decreases in some areas. If a crime is not prosecuted quickly, then such crime increases,” he added.
In 2021, 22 people were killed in 14 cases of domestic violence. The members of the law and order enforcement forces said that family violence has increased in the country due to the corona epidemic.
At the end of 2020, a survey by the private development organization BRAC said that 91 per cent of those who were victims of domestic violence during the pandemic were women and girls. 85 per cent of the abusers are family members.
Dr KH Mahid Uddin, Additional Commissioner DMP told Bangladesh Pratidin, “A case is filed if any incident occurs. The accused were then brought under the law. Social values and family values have eroded and people's wants have increased to a high level. Due to which the murders have increased in trivial incidents. In this regard, everyone should be aware and respect the law.”
Executive Director of Law and Arbitration Center Md Noor Khan said, “As long as there is unrest in the country, social and family violence will increase.”
Dr Kamal Uddin Ahmed, Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said, “Domestic violence Killings are very sad. The government is trying to control it. At the same time, laws are being tightened to reduce this violence.”
@The report was published in Bengali on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on March 25 and rewritten in English by Tanvir Raihan.
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