Bangladesh confronts growing crisis of juvenile violence

Dhaka, Sep 25 (IANS) As Bangladesh grapples with rising incidents of violence involving children, the recent murder of 13-year-old Ishayat Shahriar Apratim in Cumilla district has once again highlighted the vulnerability of children to violence and juvenile crime across the country, a report has stated.

It noted that with questions mounting surrounding the circumstances that led to his death, the case has also intensified wider concerns over adolescent gang culture, family and social environments, school intervention, online influences and the limitations of law enforcement.

Speaking to Bangladesh’s Business Standard newspaper, experts examined the factors driving juvenile crime, why gang culture is gaining a foothold among adolescents, and what families, schools, communities and the state need to do to prevent vulnerable children from being drawn into serious violence across Bangladesh.

A I Mahbub Uddin Ahmed, honorary and supernumerary professor at Dhaka University, said that poverty and unemployment are among the underlying forces behind the worsening situation in Bangladesh. He said rising school dropouts, child labour and child marriage expose how broader failures at the macro level affect individuals and families

“The solution, therefore, cannot lie in policing alone. We must address the conditions that shape behaviour from childhood: the family, education, economic opportunity and the wider social environment. Unless these foundations are strengthened and young people are given positive alternatives, violence and crime will continue to emerge as symptoms of deeper social and institutional failures, Ahmed told The Business Standard.

Helal Uddin Ahmed, an associate professor at the National Institute of Mental Health and Hospital in Dhaka, said, “A kind of gang culture has emerged among adolescents, and social media has played a role in this. Whether it is TikTok, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, technology has created an environment where young people want to grow up quickly, display aggression or appear ‘cool’. They may think, ‘If I do something violent, I become cool. If I make a video and post it, I will gain attention’.”

Rezaul Karim Shohag, chairman of the Department of Criminology at Dhaka University, said that the government must also tackle the economic and social factors that make children vulnerable to such groups, including poverty, unemployment, school dropouts, child labour and the lack of safe spaces for recreation across Bangladesh.

“Ultimately, preventing juvenile crime requires coordination between families, schools, communities, law-enforcement agencies and the state. If these institutions work separately, the problem will continue to reproduce itself. If they work together, intervention can begin before vulnerable children become involved in serious crime,” he told The Business Standard.

Highlighting the gaps in the juvenile justice system in Bangladesh, Shahzeb Mahmood, a Bangladeshi researcher, said: “We do not have adequate juvenile detention facilities, and instead of focusing on rehabilitation, we could end up creating more pathways for children into the criminal justice system. The lawmakers have not been making the right kind of laws.”

–IANS

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