Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
Authorities in Bangladesh’s Khagrachhari area have imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 following day-long violent protests over the gang rape of a schoolgirl in the hill district.
On September 23, the eighth-grader was allegedly attacked by a group of youths after returning from private tuition. The incident sparked outrage in the area, with locals blocking roads, burning tyres and felling tree trunks. Tourists in Sajek valley were stranded for hours as protesters demanded immediate arrests and swift trial.
Deputy Commissioner ABM Iftekharul Islam Khondker said the ban on gatherings of five or more people was imposed to protect lives and property. “The situation had become volatile. We had to enforce Section 144 to bring back order,” he told reporters.
Police said a 19-year-old suspect has been detained and is being interrogated. Additional forces have been deployed across key points of the district.
Women’s rights activists and student groups condemned the attack, calling it a grim reminder of the rising trend of sexual violence in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. They demanded exemplary punishment for the culprits and urged the administration not to “suppress protests through force.”
Local residents said they will lift the blockade once firm assurances are given that the trial will be fast-tracked under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. “We do not want mere arrests. We want to see the culprits punished and justice delivered,” said one protester.