A man was arrested on Thursday for allegedly raping his sister-in-law in Konabari of Gazipur and threatening to share footage of the incident on social media.
The arrestee was identified as Mamin Mandal alias Mishuk, 28, son of Nur Hossain of Bogura.
Police said Mamin was living with his wife and sister-in-law at a rented house in Gazipur.
He raped the victim, a readymade garment worker, when she was alone in the house and recorded the incident. He repeatedly raped the victim threatening to share the video on Facebook.
The victim filed a case at Konabari Police Station on Wednesday night, said Officer-in-Charge Abu Siddik.
She has been sent to a hospital for a medical test, the OC said.
Law toughened but rapes continue
Despite the introduction of death penalty as the highest punishment for rape, the crime has not declined.
Parliament passed the Women and Children Repression Prevention (Amendment) Bill 2020 on November 17 with death sentence as maximum penalty.
The government’s move came after massive countrywide protests against rape and violence against women.
Nearly a thousand rape incidents, including over 200 gang rapes, were reported between January and September this year, according to Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK).
Forty-five of the victims were killed after rape and 12 others took their own lives. Three women and nine men were killed for protesting against the incidents of sexual harassment, ASK said.
But the number most likely captures only a fraction of incidents since many victims do not report incidents of sexual assaults.
Rights experts have called for strict implementation of the law. The Human Rights Watch says the conviction rate in rape cases in Bangladesh is below 1 percent.
