Today, Bangladeshi police announced that they are investigating a case involving a man who was forced to march naked through his village with a brick attached to his genitals as a punishment for kidnapping and marrying a minor.
The local council of a village located 30 kilometers south of Dhaka imposed this punishment on the 30-year-old man.
According to the police, he had abducted and subsequently married a 12-year-old girl, who later managed to escape.
“The council chief, along with several village elders, assaulted him and made him parade with a brick tied to his genitals at a river ghat (steps) while being watched by at least 200 spectators,” stated police sub-inspector Binoy Krishna Kar.
In Bangladesh, village courts have legal recognition; however, their authority is limited to resolving disputes regarding land ownership, inheritance, and other minor matters. They are not allowed to impose physical punishment.
This recent occurrence follows a statement by the global rights watchdog Human Rights Watch, which addressed the abuses perpetrated by local councils that frequently stem from religious decrees or fatwas.
The organization called on Bangladesh, a nation with a majority Muslim population of 142 million, to implement “urgent” actions to prevent such incidents, which have been linked to the deaths of numerous women in recent years.
by Sasha Dubronitz