January sees 84 rapes

The first month of 2016 saw 84 incidents of rape including seven gang rapes, reads the monthly Violence Against Women (VAW) data gathered by Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP).

The number of rapes almost doubled compared to January 2015, when BMP data showed 48 rapes had been committed, including nine gang rapes.

VAW incidents in January also increased from that of December 2015 with a total VAW incident of 320, as per BMP report.

The women's rights organisation gathers  data from reports published in 14 national Bangla and English dailies.

Rape as usual was the most frequent crimes committed against women.

Among other significant VAW incidents last month were 70 murders, 38 mysterious deaths, 33 physical tortures and 28 child marriages.