Bangladesh: BGB accused of intimidation after protest over alleged rape of Indigenous child in Bandarban

Our Correspondent, Bandarban

Fresh outrage has erupted in Bangladesh’s remote Chittagong Hill Tracts after residents accused members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) of threatening and forcibly dispersing protesters who had gathered to demand justice for a five-year-old Indigenous girl allegedly raped in Thanchi.

The incident has reignited longstanding fears among Indigenous communities over insecurity, militarisation and what many residents describe as the state’s reflexive use of force against civilians voicing grievances in the region.

Police said a 16-year-old boy, identified by locals as a neighbour of the child, was arrested on Sunday in connection with the alleged rape, which reportedly took place a day earlier in the Bandarban hill district.

According to police and local residents, the child’s parents had left her at home while they went out for work. They later returned to find the girl injured before filing a complaint with police.

The child was later taken to Bandarban Sadar Hospital for medical examination and treatment.

Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Toufiq of Thanchi Police Station said a case had been filed under Bangladesh’s Women and Children Repression Prevention Act and that the accused teenager would be produced before a court.

But as news of the alleged assault spread through the remote hill community, anger spilled onto the streets.

Witnesses said residents gathered outside the police station demanding swift justice for the child and stronger protection for Indigenous women and children, who rights groups say remain acutely vulnerable in the conflict-scarred hill tracts.

The protest, however, descended into chaos after BGB and police personnel moved to disperse the crowd.

Several residents alleged that security personnel shouted threats, pushed demonstrators away from the station premises and carried out baton charges against protesters.

Some witnesses also claimed that a BGB officer stepped out of a vehicle and reloaded his firearm in front of demonstrators — an act residents described as deeply intimidating.

“People were standing there in grief and anger. They were not armed, they were not violent, and they were not enemies of the state,” another resident said.

After several attempts to contact BGB officials for comment, one official denied the allegations made by protesters, saying claims circulating on social media were “misinformation”.

No further explanation was provided.

For many residents in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the incident has intensified longstanding concerns over the security of Indigenous communities and how state forces respond when demands for justice emerge from the hills.

The region, home to several Indigenous communities, has long been marked by militarisation, land disputes and allegations of abuses by security forces.

Indigenous activists have repeatedly accused authorities of failing to adequately protect vulnerable communities while responding aggressively to dissent and protest.

The unrest in Thanchi also brought renewed attention to the killing of Chingma Khiyang, an Indigenous woman who was murdered while working in a jum field in Bandarban last year.

Police records show that at least 11 children and two married women were raped in Bandarban last year alone, amid growing concern over violence against women and children in CHT.

Additional Superintendent of Police Jinia Chakma said the investigation into the killing of Chingma Khiyang was ongoing, though she acknowledged that the remoteness of the area had complicated efforts to gather evidence.