Protectors as violators!

This is not the first time that police have faced such infamy. It is regrettable that law enforcers, who are supposed to protect vulnerable people, were charged with rape quite a few times in the past. People in Chuadanga reacted sharply for some obvious reasons. First, the crime was alleged to have been committed by none other than the custodians of the law, which is always hard to accept. And, mind you, it is gang-rape of a housewife that is being talked about. Second, the unusual delay in carrying out the medical examination of the victim made people suspicious about the ultimate motive of the authorities dealing with the case. It is not at all clear why they took 40 hours to conduct an examination that might have a decisive bearing on the fate of the case.

The accusation itself is highly undesirable and embarrassing, for it further bruises the blurred image of law enforcers -- thanks to some black sheep among them. It erodes people's confidence in the efficiency and integrity of the law enforcers which perhaps have never been so low in the past.

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The investigating police officers have apparently tried to downplay the gravity and enormity of the crime. But they have accepted the fact that the offence had been committed, if by a fewer number of men than is generally believed. And that alone is sufficient to establish the unpalatable truth that in some instances police are exploiting the vulnerability of people. How have they forgotten the Yasmeen rape and murder case in which three police personnel were sentenced to death?

We express our solidarity with the people who have demanded exemplary punishment to the culprits when they are proven guilty in a court of law. All the policemen have been withdrawn from the camp concerned. But we believe that departmental action can only be a palliative where the nature of the crime demands deterrent punishment.

The image crisis of the police will deepen if such incidents happen from time to time. The police bosses should address the issue in right earnest and try to adopt measures as will help stop such barbaric crimes against society.