82pc rape victims are under 20

When nine—year-old Asma Khatoon (not her real name) was coming home from school by herself on a regular afternoon, she did not know what is waiting for her.

Her neighbour Yousuf asked Asma if she wanted to have a mango. Lured by Yousuf’s promise, she followed him to a lonely area at the village and was raped by him.

Young girls like Asma fall prey to this horrible crime frequently in this country.

A study by The Daily Star has discovered that 82 percent of the rape victims are under the age of 20.

Although we have found 800-900 rape incidents being reported in a single year, these numbers do not reflect the true story at all.

As there is a social stigma attached to rape, many of the incidents do not make their way to the newspapers. This means that the number of rapes in reality is much higher than the reported ones.

The Daily Star has done a study by compiling all the rape incidents reported in the daily between January 2011 and June 2015.

From the study, it was found that 52 percent of girls or women were raped by an individual male. Thirty seven percent of girls or women were gang-raped and eleven percent faced rape attempts.

The study also discovered that girls, age between two and 19 years, were the most vulnerable. Younger girls who were unattended by parents or seniors were the biggest victims of this crime.

From the study, it was also found that 52 percent of the victims were schoolgirls.

Let us briefly take a look at the ways these girls were victimised.

Twenty seven percent of these girls were raped on their ways to and from school. In many of these cases, the rapists have taken advantage of the girls walking unattended by their parents or any seniors.

Absence of parents at home can also make girls rape victims. Twenty two percent have been violated when they were left alone at homes.

Another dangerous way by which they are victimised is when they are lured by something mostly by chocolates, candy, toys, books and the like. Teenage girls on the other hand, are mostly lured with job opportunities and romantic relationships.

The study also said that 45 percent of the rapists are neighbours or men who live in the same locality as the victim. The men are mostly known to the victims.

Eleven percent of the rapists were romantically involved with the victims and seven percent are teachers or private tutors to the victims.

The study further found that 33 percent of the victims were taken to a field or orchard and raped and 30 percent were raped at the rapists’ houses.