Get to the bottom of birthday rape case

Certainly, we are not prejudging the guilt or innocence of the four men accused in the birthday rape case.

That is the solemn responsibility of the law courts.

It is, however, unacceptable that 48 hours after the case against four men was filed, the police were yet to make any arrests.

There have also been disturbing reports of the victims being threatened in order to get them to withdraw the case.

Indeed, it says something about our law enforcement system that the police were reluctant to even take the case initially.

There is no excuse for this hesitance on part of the authorities -- the case should have been accepted immediately.

Charges should be brought forth, and a rigorous and thorough investigation needs to be conducted.

There is no other way to go about this -- we need to get to the bottom of what happened.

The allegations brought forth are of the most severe nature, and need to be treated with the utmost gravity.

There should also be an investigation into the claims of intimidation and threats being made against the victims to deter them from pushing ahead with the case.

A culture of fear and shame has been fostered in Bangladesh where victims are afraid to open up about incidences of rape.

For that reason, rape and assault continue to be woefully underreported in this country.

As such, the two victims deserve praise for coming forward and reporting the incident.

Many times in the past, we have seen rapists get away, in spite of overwhelming evidence at hand, because of misogynistic attitudes prevalent among law enforcement.

It is time to be united in our condemnation of this despicable crime, and demand the perpetrators are brought to book without further delay.