We are horrified at the incident of a gang-rape in Noakhali's Subarnachar last Monday. A 35-year-old woman was victimised for voting for the BNP. Going by the report of this daily, during on 30 December, 2108, Sunday's voting, Ruhul, the publicity affairs secretary of Subarnachar AL, insisted that the woman vote for the party, but as she didn't oblige, he threatened her at the voting centre. She was allegedly gang-raped later that night by Ruhul's accomplices who are also local Awami League activists.

This is a rare incident and just goes to show how poisonous our political culture has become over the years and how women are always the worst victims of this political culture. Our major political parties, particularly the ruling Awami League, always take credit for their success in women's empowerment, but when it comes to ensuring safety of women, the story is not the same. The fact that a woman was gang-raped just because she had an opinion of her own is beyond appalling.

As women rights activists have put it, the basic characteristics of our politics are still patriarchal in nature and the issue of women's safety is never addressed in party meetings. Moreover, many women members of major political parties often face harassment by their fellow male party members. If women's safety cannot be ensured within the political parties, how will women's safety be ensured in the remote corners of the country? Therefore, our political parties must change their mindset and give priority to gender issues. They must stop victimising women for their petty political interests. Several recent studies have found that violence against women is on the rise in the country. And ruling party members should not be a reason for this rise.

In this particular case, we are astonished at the comment of a superintendent of police in Noakhali who said that the rape took place but claimed it was not related to voting. How could a policeman make such a claim even before holding any investigation? We hope the police will play its own neutral role and do more than just “try” to arrest the alleged culprits.