Staff Correspondent

The country today witnessed nationwide street protests joined by ordinary people, students and women against the recently reported incidents of sexual assaults against women, particularly child rapes.

Rights groups raised their voice particularly after the brutal assault of an eight-year-old girl child by her sister's father-in-law in Magura three days ago while reports of sexual assaults against women in recent days visibly enraged people, prompting them to take to the street in different parts of the country.

A large group of people staged a human chain protest followed by a rally in front of Kaliganj Bus Stand in Jhenaidah, demanding exemplary punishments of sex crime culprits when protesters said rapists do not have any social or political identity and they are worse than animals.

They demanded the culprits be handed down death penalty in line with the law if the allegations were proved in due legal process.

The protest in Jhenaidah was addressed by journalist and social worker Shahriar Alam Sohag, student leaders Maruf Billah, Mousham Uddin Shovon, Jewel Rana, Mahafuzur Rahman Ishan, Riaz Uddin, Ifti Jahan, Tajul Islam, Mehedi Hasan Hiron.

In Cumilla, a protest rally at Chandina-Bagur Bus Stand with students and youths being the main organizers, drawing a huge crowd that even caused a huge traffic jam on Dhaka Chattogram Highway.

In the sit-in programme, Anti-discrimination Student Movement Chandina Municipality unit convener Md Rabbi demanded proper and immediate steps in curbing rape and killing across the country.

In Tangail, students and people arranged an identical protest rally and sit-in programme demanding highest punishments of the culprits preceded by a street march from Ghatail Upazila Parishad Chattar to central Shaheed Minar of the upazila.

Students’ leaders Md Rakibul Islam Rakib, Dewan Saiful Islam, Arifur Islam and Sultan, among others, spoke at the event.

In Rajshahi University, students brought up a protest procession demanding steps to ensure security of women and children.

The street march started from Zoha Chattar and ended at the same venue after parading different streets on the campus.

At Jahangirnagar University (JU), students blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway early today, disrupting traffic for an hour.

Earlier hundreds of JU students brought out a predawn march from Shaheed Rafique-Jabbar Hall premises to Dhaka-Aricha Highway demanding highest security for children and women.

"An eight-year-old child in Magura was raped last Thursday. On Saturday, a young man raped a third-grade girl in Gazipur and recorded the scene on his Smartphone,” JU’s Anthropology department student Nazmul Islam said as fellow students sat on the highway.

He said crimes like rape are gradually increasing due to lack of visible justice in these incidents.

In Magura, people, in the banner of Samajik Andolan, handed over a memorandum to deputy commissioner demanding maximum punishments of culprits who were involved in the rape of the eight-year-old child in Magura.

Later the crowd brought up a protest procession and staged a rally where Nari Nirjatan Pratirodh Committee general secretary Alpona Begum, Swabalambi Samity leader Kohinur Begum, Nari Pragati Sangha manager Mrinal Kanti Sarker and Zila Nari Mohila Parishad leader Fahmina Sultana, among others, spoke.

Students of Islamic University (IU) in Kushtia staged a protest demanding punishment of the rapist of the eight-year-old girl in Magura.

They also blockaded the Khulna-Kushtia highway for half-an-hour in support of materializing their demands.

The students gathered at the university's 'Bottola' area at 12 noon and brought out a protest procession joined by over one hundred students who paraded the campus roads chanting slogans demanding the culprits punishment.

Later, they proceeded towards the main entrance and there they blockaded the highway.

"The rape incident of a little child is shameful for our society . . . We demand the rapists exemplary punishment so no one dare to commit such heinous acts in future," IU student Sadia Mahmud Mim said