Bangladesh’s Descent into Chaos: Women and Children Pay the Price

Bangladesh in March 2025 is a nation teetering on the edge. Law and order crumble as mobs, criminals, and fundamentalist groups run rampant. Women and children bear the brunt—rape, harassment, and violence surge unchecked. The interim government, meant to stabilize after Sheikh Hasina’s ousting in August 2024, flounders. Crime spikes, student-led mobs clash, and young thugs rob with impunity. What’s driving this spiral? Why has the state failed so spectacularly? Let’s unpack the raw data, the shifting trends, and the stakes ahead.

A Nation Unraveled: The Stats Tell a Grim Story

Violence isn’t new to Bangladesh, but the scale in 2025 is staggering. The Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP) reported 48 women and children raped in February alone—30 of them minors. Eleven faced gang rape, one girl killed post-assault. That’s from just 15 newspapers; the real toll likely dwarfs this. Compare it to 2020, when Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) logged 1,627 rapes for the year. Today’s monthly pace suggests a 50% jump annually—over 2,400 cases projected for 2025.

Harassment? It’s everywhere. Posts on X highlight students targeted over clothing, with fundamentalists storming police stations to free suspects. One case: a girl’s address leaked by police, followed by rape and death threats. The accused? Bailed out, greeted with flowers. Law enforcement isn’t just failing—it’s complicit. Human Rights Watch (HRW) notes 88 registered communal violence cases from August to October 2024, with 70 arrests. By early 2025, that’s ballooned—hundreds of incidents, few convictions.

Robberies paint the chaos broader. Prothom Alo reports armed gangs hitting buses, markets extorted by political factions, and school picnics looted at knifepoint. Dhaka Metropolitan Police nabbed 248 criminals in a recent crackdown—14 dacoits, 16 snatchers, 7 extortionists. Yet crime climbs. Why? “Operation Devil Hunt,” launched February 8, 2025, vows to root out “evil forces.” Two thousand arrests later, mostly Awami League supporters, it’s a political cudgel, not a fix.

Fundamentalists Fill the Void

Sheikh Hasina’s fall cracked open a power vacuum. Enter fundamentalist groups like banned Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam, emboldened by the interim government’s tacit alliance. Jamaat, unbanned by Muhammad Yunus’s regime, thrives on anti-India, anti-secular sentiment. Hefazat shuts down women’s football matches—Joypurhat’s January cancellation saw venues trashed, spectators chased off. Modern women, says journalist Subir Bhaumik, are “an eyesore” to these radicals.

Despite its prohibition since 2009, Hizb ut-Tahrir has intensified its activities, advocating for the replacement of Bangladesh’s secular democracy with an Islamic caliphate. Their boldness culminated in a ‘March for Khilafat’ on March 7, 2025.

Data backs this. The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics pegs child marriage at 42% of girls under 18 in 2024, up from 2020’s pandemic spike. Fundamentalist pressure fuels it—girls pulled from schools, forced into submission. Sexual violence follows: ASK’s 2022 report showed 936 rapes, with thousands more unreported. Today’s trend? Worse. UN reports from mid-2024 flagged “targeted killings” and “gender-based violence” in protests—12-13% of 1,400 dead were kids. Fundamentalists don’t just condone this; they weaponize it.

Analyst Sharif Shamshir of the Workers Party of Bangladesh ties this to a rejection of 1971’s secular liberation values. Monuments to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman—torched in February 2025—symbolize the target. Extremists, he argues, back the interim government to dismantle that legacy.

Law and Order’s Collapse: Who’s to Blame?

The interim government, led by Yunus, promised reform post-Hasina. It’s delivered chaos instead. Police, gutted after 25 officers died on August 5, 2024, struck in protest. Stations reopened, but trust’s gone. HRW’s January 2025 report slams security forces for neutrality failures—extrajudicial killings, mass arrests, torture linger from Hasina’s era. Now, they’re politicized anew, targeting her supporters while letting criminals roam.

Students and young criminals amplify the mess. The anti-quota uprising of July 2024 birthed a mob culture. By 2025, it’s morphed—student groups torch Awami League offices, vandalize Hindu temples (152 desecrated since Hasina’s exit), and clash with rivals. Young thugs, armed with looted police weapons from the uprising, rob freely. Prothom Alo warns: without recovering those arms, lawlessness reigns.

Yunus’s team flails. Home Adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury dodges questions, per The Daily Star. “Operation Devil Hunt” nets bodies but not solutions. Critics like Meenakshi Ganguly of HRW say labeling foes “devils” greenlights abuses. The interim government’s neutrality pledge? Hollow.

Women and Children: Collateral Damage

Women and kids aren’t just victims—they’re the frontline. Sexual violence is a weapon of control. BMP’s February data—48 rapes—mirrors a UN probe’s 2024 findings: “hundreds” of gender-based attacks during protests. Survivors face stigma, no justice—less than 1% of rapes end in conviction, per HRW’s 2024 estimate. Police see domestic violence as “family matters,” says a 2024 GOV.UK report.

Children fare worse. The UN pegs 12-13% of protest deaths as minors—up to 182 kids by August 2024. Rape stats skew young—30 of February’s 48 victims were children. Education’s hit: 40 million students faced disruptions in 2020; now, picnics turn into robbery scenes. Future stakes? A generation lost to trauma and illiteracy.

Analyst Kajal Debnath of the Hindu Unity Council warns of a “twofold problem”—fundamentalist violence meets government apathy. Hindu girls, seen as pro-Hasina, are prime targets. Yet Muslims shield minorities too, per HRW, showing flickers of resistance.

What’s Next: A Ticking Clock

Bangladesh’s trajectory screams urgency. Crime’s up 30-50% from 2024, per unofficial tallies. Fundamentalists gain ground—Jamaat eyes early elections to ride anti-Awami rage, predicts observer Mrinal Das. The interim government’s reform window narrows; elections loom by late 2025. Without systemic change—police accountability, arms recovery, secular pushback—chaos deepens.

Expert forecasts diverge. The UN’s Volker Türk calls for ICC probes into 2024’s “international crimes.” HRW urges UN aid at the March 2025 Human Rights Council. Others, like Bhaumik, see a fundamentalist state if Yunus falters. Economic fallout looms too—textile exports, 84% of GDP, wobble amid instability.

The interim government must act. Neutralize security forces, jail criminals—not rivals—and curb radicals. Women and children can’t wait. Neither can Bangladesh. Stay sharp with OngoingNow.