Jumma girl raped in Matiranga

chtnews.com
News No. 156/2009, October 15, 2009

A Jumma girl is alleged to have been raped in Ballyachari under Matiranga Upazila in Khagrachari district, according to sources.

The incident occurred at around 1pm today when Ms Sumita Tripura of Arbari village was on her way back home after attending exams at her school.

She is a ten grade student in Matiranga Pilot High School. She has to pass through a settler village – Rasulpur – to and from her school.

The 17-years-old is alleged to have been raped by some settler youths when she reached Rasulpur.

She is still being held by the settlers, who are trying to force her parents – Dukhi Ram Tripura and Redu Tripura -- to reach a compromise with the rapists.

Sexual violence against Jumma women by illegal Bengali settlers is common in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and in the past not a single perpetrator has been punished for the crime.

Konica Dewan, General Secretary of the Hill Women’s Federation, a front organisation of the UPDF, has condemned the rape of Sumita Tripura, terming it “outrageous”.

“The settlers continue to commit such heinous crimes with impunity because no one is punished, because the culprits roam scot-free and because there is virtual sanction of the state for such acts of violence against Jumma women.” she said.

Hill Women’s Federation will stage demonstrations tomorrow in Khagrachari and Chittagong in protest against the incident.