From the Pinkerton Daily Summary Intelligence report of 05 June -

BANGLADESH (Moderate Risk) – Gender-Related and Political Violence Continues In its June 6 edition, Dubai's Gulf News Online reported one human rights group in Dhaka claimed at least 145 women were raped in May and another 28 persons were killed in political violence. Ain O Shalish Kendra said 12 of the rape victims were killed afterward and five committed suicide. The group said 28 women were tortured to death over dowry issues and another five died as a result of alleged medical negligence. Two other rights groups cited slightly lower rape totals for the month (evidently based on different mixes of media sources) but one said 27 women had acid thrown on them while the other reported 24 were victims of acid throwing attacks. PERSPECTIVE: Political violence apparently is so commonplace that only one of the three groups even noted that 28 persons were so killed in May and it provided no details. Gender-related violence is another matter, especially acid attacks. In March, Parliament enacted a law establishing death as the maximum punishment for acid attackers, up from the previous maximum of life imprisonment (DIS 03/15/02). A survey by the Bangladesh Acid Survivors Foundation found that nearly 250 victims, mostly women, sustained severe burn injuries in 2001, up from about 200 the previous year (DIS 02/06/02). Most of the victims were young women who refused love offers or did not submit to illicit affairs. To a much lesser extent, men also fell victim to acid attacks, following disputes over property or petty squabbles. Police sources said only about 10 percent of the culprits were arrested and even fewer come to trial because of a faulty legal system and victims who lacked the ability or intention to pursue justice. (06/05/02)

Not a good thing -

Steve