‘Such incidents can no longer be dismissed as isolated events’

Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) has condemned the brutal killings of a garment worker in Mymensingh and the seven-year-old daughter of a BNP leader in Lakshmipur, expressing grave concern over the country's deteriorating law and order.

In a statement, ASK said the two separate yet equally horrific incidents have raised serious questions about human rights protection and public safety in Bangladesh.

According to media reports, Dipu Chandra Das, an employee of Pioneers Knitwears (BD) Limited in Mymensingh's Bhaluka upazila was beaten to death on December 18 after a mob was allegedly formed over accusations of blasphemy.

After the killing, his body was reportedly stripped, hung from a tree on the divider of the Dhaka–Mymensingh highway and set on fire.

ASK said the incident represents a gross violation of the constitutional right to life and the right to protection of law as guaranteed under the Constitution.

The organisation stressed that no individual or group has the authority to take the law into their own hands and that allegations of blasphemy must be addressed only through judicial processes.

In another incident, on the night of December 19, miscreants allegedly locked the house of BNP leader Belal Hossain in Lakshmipur Sadar and set it on fire after pouring petrol. A seven-year-old girl inside the house was burned to death.

ASK described the child's killing as a violation of child rights and basic humanity, noting that the incident also reflects political violence and exposes shortcomings in the country's security system.

The organisation said such incidents can no longer be dismissed as "isolated events". Repeated acts of brutal violence, it noted, point to a growing culture of impunity, driven by the failure to ensure swift, effective and exemplary punishment of those responsible.

ASK called for bringing not only the direct perpetrators but also the instigators, planners and facilitators of organised violence under the law. The organisation also urged impartial investigations into possible administrative failures that may have enabled such crimes.

It warned that these incidents are creating widespread fear and insecurity among minority communities, political activists and ordinary citizens.