Yasmin rape and murder day today

DHAKA, Aug 24: Social and women organizations across the country are observing Yasmin Day to mark the fateful incident of a fourteen year old girl, who was raped and murdered by a group of police, today.

On August 24, 1995 Yasmin Akhter, a fourteen-year-old girl from Dinajpur was on her way to her mother’s house. It was a quiet evening, when a group of police officers picked her up and assured her that they would drop her home safely.

A day later, her dead body was found at the roadside and the entire district of Dinajpur rose up in arms against the police and the local administration, forcing the government to take note of this incident.

Yasmin Akhter’s case represents one of the most shameful moments in Bangladesh’s history. The public protests ignited by Yasmin’s rape and murder made her a symbol of violence against women, of the violence of the powerful perpetrated on the powerless.

At the same time, public protest and women’s movement in reaction to Yasmin’s murder also became a means of social resistance to such violence.

Yasmin’s murder led to widespread protests in Rangpur – one police station was besieged by a crowd for two days. In the ensuing riot, officers fired on the protesters. Seven people were killed and there were calls for the government to stand down.

Following strong judicial inquiry and police investigations, the three officers were finally arrested in 1997. Two out of three policemen convicted in Yasmin rape and murder case were hanged in Rangpur jail after midnight, nine years later on September 1, 2004.

risingbd/ASB