Quarterly Report on Violence Against Men in Bangladesh

FOREWORD BY THE PRESIDENT

Violence against men in Bangladesh occupies a dimension of public suffering that remains chronically underacknowledged in institutional discourse, legal frameworks, and media narratives. While our constitutional order guarantees equal protection of the law without discrimination, the practical experience of male victims - whether of intimate partner violence, sexual exploitation, or predatory abuse - routinely escapes the structured attention it demands.

This quarterly report - the first such publication by the Violence Against Men Monitor of Constitution Watchdog for the year 2026 - represents a determined effort to remedy that silence through rigorous documentation, categorical analysis, and evidence-based institutional commentary. It covers the period of January through March 2026, drawing upon verified media reportage and documented legal proceedings across Bangladesh.

What the data reveals over these three months is not merely troubling - it is a constitutional emergency in slow motion. Thirty incidents were recorded across five principal categories of violence. Ten of those incidents involved the sexual abuse of male minor children, overwhelmingly boys aged eight to nine years, by perpetrators in positions of trust - teachers, neighbours, and adult community members. Seven men lost their lives at the hands of intimate partners. Six were subjected to genital mutilation or severe physical disfigurement. In none of these categories does the law, or the institutional machinery of the State, respond with the urgency that the facts demand.

It is the solemn responsibility of Constitution Watchdog to name these realities plainly, to classify them with analytical precision, and to place before the public, the legislature, and the judiciary the evidence they require to discharge their constitutional obligations.

This report is published without fear or favour, in the service of equal justice.

Md. Ibrahim Khalilullah
President, Constitution Watchdog
Dhaka, 2 April 2026

SECTION 1 - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Violence Against Men Monitor of Constitution Watchdog recorded thirty (30) verified incidents of violence against men and male minors across Bangladesh during the first quarter of 2026, spanning the months of January, February, and March. These incidents were drawn from credible and publicly verifiable media sources and legal proceedings.

The incidents distribute across five primary categories of violence: lethal intimate partner violence (murder), physical mutilation and emasculation, sexual exploitation and entrapment through honey trap operations, sexual abuse of male minors, and grievous physical assault. The most numerically significant category is the sexual abuse of male minor children, which accounts for ten (10) incidents, or 33.3% of all recorded cases - a proportion that demands urgent national and institutional attention.

Seven men were killed by intimate partners or associates during this quarter. Six were subjected to emasculation or severe physical mutilation. Six were targeted by organised honey trap operations involving blackmail, extortion, pornographic exploitation, and robbery. One incident involved a non-fatal stabbing.

The data reveals several alarming trends: an increase in incident frequency across consecutive months (4 in January, 12 in February, 14 in March); a recurrent pattern of intimate partner homicide in which spousal perpetrators flee the scene and remain at large; systemic under-reporting and informal resolution of sexual offences against male minors; and geographic concentration in Dhaka, Khulna, Cox's Bazar, and Habiganj.

Litigation responses were inconsistent. While a number of cases resulted in arrest and judicial remand, several others were settled through extrajudicial mechanisms such as Salish (village arbitration), with no formal complaints filed, or with perpetrators confirmed to be at large at the time of reporting.

Constitution Watchdog urges the Government, the judiciary, law enforcement agencies, and civil society to treat this data as a call for immediate legislative, institutional, and programmatic action.

SECTION 2 - INTRODUCTION AND INSTITUTIONAL MANDATE

Constitution Watchdog is an independent, non-partisan civil rights organisation established to monitor, document, and advocate on matters of constitutional rights and equal justice under the law. The organisation's mandate derives from the foundational principle that the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh guarantees the fundamental rights of all persons - regardless of sex, class, or social standing - to life, liberty, personal security, and equal protection before the law.

The Violence Against Men Monitor (VAM Monitor) is a dedicated documentation programme of Constitution Watchdog established in recognition of a persistent gap in Bangladesh's public rights discourse: that violence perpetrated against men and male minors, including intimate partner violence, genital mutilation, sexual exploitation, and the sexual abuse of male children, remains structurally invisible in national statistics, underreported in institutional filings, and absent from most gender-based violence policy frameworks.

The VAM Monitor does not situate its work in opposition to women's rights advocacy. Rather, it proceeds from the constitutional commitment to the equal worth and equal protection of every person. A society that criminalises violence selectively, or acknowledges suffering only within gendered frameworks that exclude half the population, fails its constitutional obligations.

This quarterly report is a publication of record. It is intended for government agencies, members of Parliament, the judiciary, law enforcement leadership, academic researchers, and the general public.

SECTION 3 - SCOPE, METHODOLOGY, AND DATA LIMITATIONS

3.1 Scope

This report covers incidents of violence against men and male minors occurring within the territory of Bangladesh during the period 1 January 2026 to 31 March 2026, constituting the First Quarter of calendar year 2026 (Q1 2026). All incidents were assigned unique identifiers in the format VAM-YYYY-MON-NN.

3.2 Methodology

Incidents were identified and recorded through systematic monitoring of Bangladeshi print and digital media outlets, including but not limited to: Jugantor, The Daily Star, TBS News, Ittefaq, Daily Inqilab, Prothom Alo, Sangbad, Daily Sangram, Kaler Kantho, BD-Pratidin, Jago News 24, UNB, Rising BD, Dainik Azadi, and others. Each incident was assessed against the following inclusion criteria:

• The primary victim is an identified or identifiable adult male, or a male minor child.
• The act of violence, exploitation, or abuse is directed at the male victim by one or more perpetrators.
• The incident is corroborated by at least one verifiable media source linked to the entry.

Each incident was further classified by: incident identifier, date of occurrence, geographic location, category of violence, litigation/law enforcement status, physical injury status, and date of arrest where applicable.

3.3 Data Limitations

The VAM Monitor acknowledges the following limitations inherent in its methodology:

• Under-reporting: The incidents documented here represent only those that entered the public record through media reporting. Given the social stigma, legal inadequacies, and institutional indifference surrounding male victimisation, a substantial proportion of incidents - particularly sexual abuse of male minors and emasculation - are believed to go entirely unreported.
• Source dependency: The accuracy of incident details is contingent upon the accuracy of the media sources consulted. Where source information was ambiguous or conflicting, this is noted.
• Litigation lag: Legal proceedings were recorded as at the date of reporting, not at the date of final resolution. Ongoing cases may have developed further since the source article was published.
• Informal resolution: Several incidents were resolved through Salish (extrajudicial community arbitration), which by definition results in no formal legal record. These are documented where discovered but likely represent only a fraction of such resolutions.

SECTION 4 - QUANTITATIVE OVERVIEW: Q1 2026 AT A GLANCE

SECTION 5 - CATEGORICAL ANALYSIS OF INCIDENTS

5.1 Lethal Intimate Partner Violence (Murder)

Total incidents: 7
Incidents: VAM-2026-JAN-03, VAM-2026-FEB-02, VAM-2026-FEB-04, VAM-2026-FEB-06, VAM-2026-MAR-01, VAM-2026-MAR-04, VAM-2026-MAR-07

Seven men lost their lives to acts of lethal violence during Q1 2026. This constitutes 23.3% of all recorded incidents. The perpetrators were in all identified cases persons in intimate or close relational proximity to the victim - wives, lovers, or associates.

The methods of killing documented in this quarter reveal a disturbing range of deliberate physical violence: a male victim in Chattogram was killed and his body severed into six pieces by a female lover (VAM-2026-JAN-03); a man in Cox's Bazar was asphyxiated through suffocation by pillow by his wife (VAM-2026-MAR-01); a man in Khulna was killed through strangulation combined with targeted testicular compression (VAM-2026-MAR-07); and men in Habiganj were stabbed to death, one by a wife subsequently arrested and one by a perpetrator who remains a fugitive (VAM-2026-FEB-04, VAM-2026-FEB-06). A victim in Chuadanga was poisoned by his wife, who was subsequently detained (VAM-2026-MAR-04). A man in Khulna was stabbed by his wife, who was subsequently sent to jail (VAM-2026-FEB-02).

A pattern of particular institutional concern is the frequency with which spousal perpetrators of intimate partner homicide fled the scene following the killing and remained at large at the time of reporting: VAM-2026-MAR-01, VAM-2026-MAR-07, and VAM-2026-FEB-06 all involved perpetrators confirmed to be fugitive. This represents a 43% non-apprehension rate within this category as at the reporting date, a figure that raises serious questions about the adequacy of police response time and spousal crime victim protection protocols.

5.2 Physical Mutilation and Emasculation

Total incidents: 6
Incidents: VAM-2026-JAN-02, VAM-2026-FEB-03, VAM-2026-FEB-07, VAM-2026-MAR-03, VAM-2026-MAR-06, VAM-2026-MAR-14

Six incidents of deliberate physical mutilation, with a specific and recurrent focus on genital mutilation (emasculation), were recorded during Q1 2026. This category accounts for 20% of all incidents.

Emasculation - the deliberate destruction or removal of a man's genitalia - represents one of the most severe forms of gender-targeted physical violence. Its primary perpetrators in the incidents documented here are, without exception, intimate partners. Cases were recorded in Madaripur, Dhaka (two incidents), Bagerhat, Panchagarh, and Tongi, Gazipur. In the Panchagarh case, classified as "mutilating husband" (VAM-2026-FEB-07), the perpetrator was remanded to jail; in Dhaka (VAM-2026-FEB-03), the wife was arrested; in Tongi (VAM-2026-MAR-14), the accused was sent to court following a filed case. However, in Dhaka (VAM-2026-MAR-03), Bagerhat (VAM-2026-MAR-06), and Madaripur (VAM-2026-JAN-02), law enforcement responses were incomplete at the time of reporting.

The concentration of emasculation cases - six in a single quarter - warrants dedicated statutory attention. Currently, Bangladesh has no specific legislative provision addressing genital mutilation of men, a lacuna that Constitution Watchdog regards as constitutionally untenable.

5.3 Sexual Exploitation and Entrapment - Honey Trap Operations

Total incidents: 6
Incidents: VAM-2026-JAN-01, VAM-2026-FEB-01, VAM-2026-FEB-05, VAM-2026-FEB-08, VAM-2026-MAR-05, VAM-2026-MAR-11

Six incidents of organised sexual entrapment - commonly referred to as "honey trap" operations - were recorded during Q1 2026, representing 20% of all incidents. These operations involve the deliberate use of romantic or sexual luring to place male victims in compromising positions, which are then exploited for purposes of blackmail, extortion, robbery, or the production of pornographic material.

The incidents spanned Dhaka (two incidents), Barishal (two incidents), Narayanganj, and Jatrabari. Methods employed by perpetrators included: blackmail through fabricated or real compromising imagery (VAM-2026-JAN-01, VAM-2026-FEB-01); robbery of victims rendered vulnerable through entrapment (VAM-2026-FEB-05); organised group operations involving multiple perpetrators arrested by RAB-11 (VAM-2026-FEB-08); and combined physical assault with financial extortion amounting to BDT 259,700 in a Jatrabari case (VAM-2026-MAR-11).

A notable development is the institutional response in January: in VAM-2026-JAN-01, police arrested twelve persons - including two women as principal perpetrators - pursuant to a warrant dated 7 March 2026. Similarly, in VAM-2026-FEB-08, RAB-11 arrested five accused. This demonstrates that focused law enforcement engagement can be effective when initiated. The February Barishal case (VAM-2026-FEB-01) resulted in three arrests, and in March's Jatrabari case (VAM-2026-MAR-11), BDT 67,000 of the extorted funds was recovered.

The recurring geographic concentration of honey trap operations in Dhaka and Barishal, and the involvement of organised groups rather than individual perpetrators, suggest systemic criminal enterprise rather than isolated opportunism. Constitution Watchdog urges law enforcement to treat these not as simple cases of fraud but as coordinated criminal conspiracies meriting RICO-equivalent investigative frameworks.

5.4 Sexual Abuse of Male Minors (Unnatural Offence)

Total incidents: 10
Incidents: VAM-2026-JAN-04, VAM-2026-FEB-09, VAM-2026-FEB-10, VAM-2026-FEB-11, VAM-2026-FEB-12, VAM-2026-MAR-08, VAM-2026-MAR-09, VAM-2026-MAR-10, VAM-2026-MAR-12, VAM-2026-MAR-13

This is the single largest category of violence documented in Q1 2026, accounting for ten incidents and 33.3% of all recorded cases. These incidents involve the sexual abuse of male minor children under Section 377 of the Penal Code, referred to in formal reporting as "unnatural offence." Constitution Watchdog considers this category the most grievous documentation of this quarter and dedicates a separate analytical section to it (see Section 10).

The ten incidents span the districts of Joypurhat, Rangamati, Brahmanbaria, Natore, Rajshahi, Khagrachhari, Mymensingh, Chattogram (Sadarghat area), Daulatpur, and Sunamganj. Victims ranged in age from 8 to 14 years, with the most common victim profile being a boy aged 8 to 9 years enrolled in a madrasa or other residential educational setting.

Perpetrators in identified cases include: a madrasa teacher who subjected an 8-year-old to repeated offences over six months (VAM-2026-JAN-04); a teacher who assaulted a 9-year-old residential student (VAM-2026-FEB-11); a 60-year-old man who lured an 8-year-old child over multiple days (VAM-2026-FEB-12); and a perpetrator who abducted a 14-year-old across district lines before committing the offence (VAM-2026-MAR-10).

Methods of victim approach consistently involve luring with food, false promises, or false religious authority. Intimidation - including explicit death threats - was used to silence victims in several cases (VAM-2026-MAR-09, VAM-2026-MAR-13).

Critically, one incident was settled through Salish (VAM-2026-FEB-09, Rangamati) - an informal arbitration mechanism that has no legal standing as a resolution for serious criminal offences - and one incident generated no formal complaint at all (VAM-2026-MAR-08, Khagrachhari). These outcomes constitute failures of the criminal justice system in protecting child victims.

5.5 Grievous Physical Assault (Non-Lethal)

Total incidents: 1
Incident: VAM-2026-MAR-02

One incident of grievous physical assault not resulting in confirmed death was recorded in this quarter. On 5 March 2026 in Cox's Bazar, a man was stabbed by his wife, who subsequently fled the scene and remained at large as at the date of reporting. This incident reflects the same pattern of spousal violence and perpetrator flight documented in the murder category.

SECTION 6 - MONTHLY ANALYSIS

6.1 January 2026 - Period ID: 01/2026

Total incidents: 4

January 2026 recorded four incidents, spanning three categories of violence. While numerically the lowest month of the quarter, the incidents registered were individually severe.

The month opened with a complex organised crime incident in Dhaka (VAM-2026-JAN-01) involving a honey trap operation resulting in severe blackmail and extortion, in which twelve persons, including two women, were subsequently arrested pursuant to a warrant. This case is notable for the scale of the criminal operation and the eventual robustness of the law enforcement response.

On 17 January, Madaripur recorded a case of spousal emasculation (VAM-2026-JAN-02), with the wife detained on the same day - representing one of the faster arrest responses documented in the quarter.

The month's most violent incident occurred on 20 January in Chattogram (VAM-2026-JAN-03), where a man was killed and his body deliberately severed into six pieces by a female lover. An arrest was made within two days.

January's final incident (VAM-2026-JAN-04) is also its most sobering in terms of systemic implications: an 8-year-old madrasa student in Joypurhat Sadar Upazila was subjected to repeated sexual abuse by his teacher over a period of six months, coming to light only when the child fell ill. RAB-5 arrested the perpetrator within 12 hours of a case being filed, and he was sent to jail - a commendable response that nonetheless raises deeply troubling questions about why six months of ongoing abuse went undetected in an institutional setting.

6.2 February 2026 - Period ID: 02/2026

Total incidents: 12

February recorded twelve incidents - a tripling from January's total - making it a significant escalation in documented violence. The month's incidents covered all five categories, with the greatest concentration falling in the areas of murder (3 incidents), sexual abuse of male minors (4 incidents), and honey trap operations (3 incidents).

Three murders were recorded in February: a stabbing death in Khulna (VAM-2026-FEB-02), a spousal stabbing in Habiganj with the wife arrested (VAM-2026-FEB-04), and a second Habiganj stabbing by a perpetrator who had fled and remained a fugitive as at reporting (VAM-2026-FEB-06). The clustering of two murder incidents in Habiganj within the same month is geographically notable.

February's emasculation incidents include two spousal cases - one in Dhaka with the wife arrested (VAM-2026-FEB-03) and one in Panchagarh classified as "mutilating husband" with the perpetrator sent to jail (VAM-2026-FEB-07). The Panchagarh case was covered by The Daily Star.

Three honey trap operations were recorded in February, involving organised criminal groups across Barishal (with pornography, 3 arrests), Dhaka (with robbery, 3 arrested, one fugitive), and Narayanganj (5 arrested by RAB-11). The Narayanganj case demonstrates particularly effective inter-agency law enforcement coordination.

Four child sexual abuse incidents were recorded in February, all involving male minors aged 8 to 9 years. One was settled through Salish in Rangamati (VAM-2026-FEB-09). Three resulted in arrests and judicial proceedings. The Brahmanbaria case (VAM-2026-FEB-10) involved a child abandoned in a jungle after assault and suffering severe rectal bleeding. The Natore case (VAM-2026-FEB-11) involved a 22-year-old teacher assaulting a 9-year-old residential student at night. The Rajshahi case (VAM-2026-FEB-12) involved a 60-year-old man who systematically lured an 8-year-old over several days.

6.3 March 2026 - Period ID: 03/2026

Total incidents: 14

March recorded the highest number of incidents in the quarter - fourteen - representing an increase of 16.7% over February. Every category of violence registered new incidents, with child sexual abuse again accounting for the largest share (5 incidents).

March recorded four emasculation incidents - the highest of any single month - across Dhaka, Bagerhat, and Tongi, Gazipur (VAM-2026-MAR-03, MAR-06, MAR-14 confirmed emasculation; MAR-02 a stabbing). In Dhaka (VAM-2026-MAR-03), the perpetrating wife fled the scene. In Bagerhat (VAM-2026-MAR-06), the perpetrator surrendered the following day. In Tongi (VAM-2026-MAR-14), a case was filed and the accused remanded to Gazipur court.

Three murders were recorded in March. A man in Cox's Bazar was suffocated with a pillow by his wife, who fled (VAM-2026-MAR-01). A man in Chuadanga was poisoned by his wife, who was detained (VAM-2026-MAR-04). A man in Khulna was killed through strangulation and targeted testicular compression by his wife, who fled (VAM-2026-MAR-07). The Khulna case in particular represents a convergence of lethal violence and genital targeting that Constitution Watchdog records with the deepest institutional concern.

Two honey trap incidents were recorded in March: one in Barishal (VAM-2026-MAR-05) with two detentions, and one in Jatrabari, Dhaka (VAM-2026-MAR-11) involving physical assault, extortion of BDT 259,700, two arrests, and BDT 67,000 in recovered funds.

Five child sexual abuse incidents were recorded in March, spanning Khagrachhari (no formal complaint), Mymensingh (death threats against victim's family), Chattogram area (abduction across district lines), Daulatpur (perpetrator posing as religious teacher), and Sunamganj (8-year-old with medically verified physical injuries). These five cases together constitute an alarming surge in recorded child male victimisation.

SECTION 7 - GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF INCIDENTS

The thirty incidents of Q1 2026 span 24 distinct locations across Bangladesh, demonstrating that violence against men and male minors is a nationwide - not localised - phenomenon. The following table organises incidents by district or administrative area of occurrence.

Observations: Dhaka registers the highest concentration of incidents at 5 cases - driven principally by honey trap operations and emasculation incidents. Cox's Bazar, Habiganj, Khulna, Barishal, and Chattogram each recorded two incidents. Notably, Habiganj recorded two murders within the same month (February), and Khulna recorded one murder and one murder in separate months. Districts in which child sexual abuse incidents were recorded include Joypurhat, Rangamati, Brahmanbaria, Natore, Rajshahi, Khagrachhari, Mymensingh, Chattogram, Daulatpur, and Sunamganj - spanning every major division of the country.

SECTION 8 - LITIGATION AND LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE ANALYSIS

One of the most critical dimensions of this report is the quality and consistency of institutional - particularly law enforcement and judicial - responses to reported incidents. The following analysis proceeds from the litigation status data recorded for each incident.

8.1 Cases Resulting in Arrest and Judicial Remand

Sixteen of the thirty incidents resulted in at least one arrest, with several resulting in judicial remand or imprisonment. Notable effective responses include:

• VAM-2026-JAN-04 (Joypurhat): RAB-5 arrested the accused madrasa teacher within 12 hours of case filing and he was sent to jail by court - an exemplary response timeline.
• VAM-2026-FEB-08 (Narayanganj): RAB-11 arrested five accused persons in a honey trap operation.
• VAM-2026-FEB-07 (Panchagarh): The accused wife was sent to jail following mutilation of her husband.
• VAM-2026-FEB-10 (Brahmanbaria): Police arrested the fleeing accused and the court sent him to jail.
• VAM-2026-MAR-10 (Chattogram area): The perpetrator of abduction and sexual assault of a 14-year-old was arrested and handed to court.
• VAM-2026-JAN-01 (Dhaka): Twelve persons arrested, including two women, in a honey trap extortion ring.

8.2 Cases with Perpetrators at Large

Five incidents had perpetrators confirmed to be at large, fled, or fugitive at the time of source reporting:

• VAM-2026-FEB-06 (Habiganj): Perpetrator explicitly described as fugitive following murder.
• VAM-2026-MAR-01 (Cox's Bazar): Wife fled after suffocating husband to death.
• VAM-2026-MAR-02 (Cox's Bazar): Wife fled after stabbing husband.
• VAM-2026-MAR-03 (Dhaka): Wife fled after emasculating husband.
• VAM-2026-MAR-07 (Khulna): Wife fled after killing husband.

The concentration of perpetrator-flight in March, and the particular pattern of spousal intimate partner homicide followed by flight, warrants the immediate formulation of an emergency spousal crime fugitive protocol by the Bangladesh Police. All four spousal perpetrators who fled in March were wives - a demographic that may benefit from faster initial response by law enforcement given existing patterns in this data.

8.3 Informal Resolution (Salish)

One case - VAM-2026-FEB-09 (Rangamati, unnatural offence) - was resolved through Salish, a community-level extrajudicial arbitration mechanism. The use of Salish to resolve a serious sexual offence is itself a violation of the spirit and intent of criminal law. Under Section 377 of the Penal Code and the Nari-o-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Ain, unnatural offences, particularly against children, are non-compoundable and cannot be legally settled through arbitration. Constitution Watchdog formally condemns the use of Salish in this matter and calls upon the relevant Upazila administration to ensure proper legal proceedings are initiated.

8.4 Cases with No Formal Complaint

One case - VAM-2026-MAR-08 (Khagrachhari, unnatural offence) - generated no formal complaint at all. This is deeply troubling, as it suggests the existence of cases that enter the public record through media reporting but fail entirely to enter the formal justice system. It also suggests victim and family fear of reprisal, social stigma, or lack of faith in institutional redress - all systemic failures that policy must address.

8.5 Cases Pending Investigation

Several incidents remained at varying stages of investigation or judicial process at the time of source reporting. These include VAM-2026-FEB-11, VAM-2026-FEB-12, VAM-2026-MAR-09, VAM-2026-MAR-12, and VAM-2026-MAR-13 - all involving male child victims. Constitution Watchdog will monitor these cases in subsequent quarterly publications.

SECTION 9 - PERPETRATOR-VICTIM RELATIONSHIP ANALYSIS

An analysis of the relationship between perpetrator and victim across incident categories reveals a consistent and troubling structural pattern: the overwhelming majority of perpetrators are persons in positions of trust, intimacy, or authority relative to the victim.

Intimate Partner Violence: In all seven murder cases and all six emasculation/mutilation cases where perpetrator identity is known, the perpetrator is the male victim's wife or intimate partner. This is a 100% intimate partner perpetration rate within these two categories. The abusive use of marital proximity as a context for lethal and mutilating violence demands statutory recognition through a gender-neutral domestic violence law that explicitly protects male victims.

Child Sexual Abuse: In identified cases, perpetrators include: two madrasa or religious teachers (VAM-2026-JAN-04, VAM-2026-MAR-12), one residential school teacher (VAM-2026-FEB-11), one elderly neighbour (VAM-2026-FEB-12), one adult community member (VAM-2026-MAR-13), and one unknown perpetrator in a trafficking context (VAM-2026-MAR-10). The recurrence of teacher-perpetrators is a systemic institutional safeguarding failure demanding regulatory action in educational institutions.

Honey Trap Operations: Perpetrators in organised sexual entrapment operate as criminal groups, often including both male and female members. Female perpetrators as lead or complicit actors in honey trap schemes were documented in at least three incidents (VAM-2026-JAN-01, VAM-2026-FEB-01, VAM-2026-MAR-05), disrupting any assumption that such operations are exclusively male-perpetrated.

SECTION 10 - THE CHILD PROTECTION CRISIS: A DEDICATED ASSESSMENT

The sexual abuse of male minor children constitutes the single most numerically dominant category of violence in this quarter and merits dedicated institutional assessment.

10.1 Scale and Trend

Ten incidents of sexual abuse of male minors were recorded across Q1 2026 - representing one confirmed incident of male child sexual abuse approximately every nine days of the quarter. This is almost certainly a severe undercount, given known barriers to reporting, the informal resolution of at least one case through Salish, and the absence of formal complaint in another. The upward monthly trajectory (1 in January, 4 in February, 5 in March) is especially alarming.

10.2 Victim Profile

The typical victim documented in this quarter is a boy aged 8 to 9 years, enrolled in a madrasa, residential school, or community educational setting. Children in these environments are particularly vulnerable due to their removal from immediate parental oversight, their placement in positions of social and religious subordination relative to adult teachers or authorities, and the institutional reluctance of such settings to self-report or cooperate with formal investigations.

The youngest victim profile identified in this quarter is 8 years old; the oldest, 14. The 14-year-old (VAM-2026-MAR-10) was abducted across district lines - transported from Chattogram city to a mess house and subsequently to a hotel in Reazuddin Bazar - before being subjected to the offence, representing a case of criminal trafficking compounding the sexual offence.

10.3 Perpetrator Modus Operandi

Three primary perpetrator strategies were identified:

• Luring: Perpetrators offered food (biryani in one instance - VAM-2026-MAR-08), money, or false religious guidance to draw child victims away from safety. Luring was documented in VAM-2026-FEB-12, VAM-2026-MAR-09, VAM-2026-MAR-12, and VAM-2026-MAR-08.
• Institutional exploitation: Perpetrators used positions as teachers or religious authorities to gain unsupervised access to child victims, often in residential settings. VAM-2026-JAN-04 involved repeated abuse over six months by a madrasa teacher. VAM-2026-FEB-11 involved a teacher assaulting a student in the night. VAM-2026-MAR-12 involved a perpetrator posing as a religious teacher.
• Intimidation and silencing: Death threats against victims and their families were used to suppress reporting. VAM-2026-MAR-09 documented a family living under active threat. VAM-2026-MAR-13 documented a victim subjected to death threats before the offence. This deliberate terrorisation of victim families is a secondary layer of criminal conduct that law enforcement must treat with equal seriousness.

10.4 Systemic Failures Exposed

Several institutional failings are exposed by this data in aggregate:

First, madrasa and residential educational institutions lack mandatory child safeguarding protocols equivalent to those applied in formal state schools. The recurrence of teacher-perpetrators in institutional settings reflects this absence.

Second, the Salish resolution of a sexual offence against a male child (VAM-2026-FEB-09) represents a criminal justice failure in which community pressure superseded the child's right to State protection.

Third, the complete absence of a formal complaint in VAM-2026-MAR-08 suggests victim families in marginalised or remote communities do not believe the State will protect them - or worse, fear that reporting will bring reprisal from perpetrators or community.

Fourth, the physical injuries documented - severe rectal bleeding (VAM-2026-FEB-10), medical certification of injury (VAM-2026-MAR-13), child falling ill after months of abuse (VAM-2026-JAN-04) - demonstrate that these are not merely legal or social offences but cases of grave bodily harm requiring both medical and criminal institutional response.

10.5 Applicable Legal Framework

Sexual offences against male children in Bangladesh are prosecutable under:

• Section 377 of the Penal Code 1860 (carnal intercourse against the order of nature), which carries imprisonment for life or up to ten years and fine.
• The Nari-o-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Ain 2000 (Women and Children Repression Prevention Act), which, while gender-specific in name and traditionally applied to female victims, may be invoked in relevant trafficking and trafficking-adjacent scenarios.
• The Children Act 2013, which provides for the protection of children as defined persons under 18 years.

Constitution Watchdog notes that the absence of a gender-neutral child sexual abuse statute explicitly and comprehensively covering male victims creates structural ambiguity that perpetrators exploit and that institutional actors fail to navigate consistently. Legislative reform in this area is urgently required.

SECTION 11 - OBSERVED PATTERNS AND EMERGING TRENDS

A cross-categorical analysis of Q1 2026 data reveals the following significant patterns and emerging trends:

• 1. Escalating Monthly Frequency. The number of recorded incidents rose from 4 in January to 12 in February and 14 in March - a 250% increase over the course of the quarter. Whether this reflects an actual escalation in incidents or an improving documentation capacity of the VAM Monitor, or both, will become clearer in subsequent quarters. Either interpretation demands institutional attention.
• 2. Systematic Spousal Violence with Perpetrator Impunity. The pattern of intimate partner murder or mutilation followed by perpetrator flight - confirmed in five cases, four of them in March alone - suggests either a deficiency in initial law enforcement response protocols for spousal crime or a deterrence failure. Wives who commit intimate partner violence against husbands appear in the data to face lower apprehension rates and, by extension, lower deterrence than in cases involving other perpetrator-victim configurations.
• 3. Geographic Decentralisation of Child Sexual Abuse. Unlike honey trap operations, which concentrate in urban centres like Dhaka, Barishal, and Narayanganj, child sexual abuse incidents are geographically dispersed - spanning ten distinct districts across multiple divisions. This indicates a national, systemic phenomenon rather than a locally driven one, demanding a national policy response rather than district-specific interventions.
• 4. Institutional Trust as a Perpetrator Asset. Across child abuse cases and honey trap operations alike, perpetrators routinely exploit institutional or relational trust - as teachers, religious figures, neighbours, or romantic interests - as the primary mechanism of victim access and control. This suggests that safeguarding failures within institutions (madrasas, schools, residential facilities) are a consistent vector for male victimisation.
• 5. Convergence of Violence Categories. Several incidents involve multiple overlapping categories of violence. The Khulna murder (VAM-2026-MAR-07) involved both lethal violence and genital targeting. The Jatrabari honey trap (VAM-2026-MAR-11) involved both financial extortion and physical assault. The Mymensingh child abuse case (VAM-2026-MAR-09) involved sexual abuse, death threats, and intimidation of the entire victim family. This convergence points to the inadequacy of single-category classification frameworks in capturing the full criminal gravity of these incidents.
• 6. Persistent Use of Extra-Judicial Mechanisms. The documented use of Salish to resolve a serious sexual offence, and the complete absence of formal complaint in another, reflects a systemic failure of legal access in rural and marginalised communities. Where the formal justice system is inaccessible - physically, financially, or socially - victim families revert to community-level mechanisms that systematically disadvantage the victim.

SECTION 12 - INSTITUTIONAL CONCERNS

Constitution Watchdog registers the following formal institutional concerns arising from the Q1 2026 data:

Concern 1 - Absence of a Gender-Neutral Domestic Violence Law. The existing legal framework does not comprehensively recognise men as victims of domestic violence. Lethal and mutilating intimate partner violence against men is prosecuted under general provisions of the Penal Code rather than under dedicated domestic violence protection legislation. This results in an absence of protective orders, shelter access, and victim support services for male survivors and the families of male victims.

Concern 2 - Absence of Specific Statutory Protection for Male Genital Mutilation. Bangladesh has no legislation specifically criminalising and sentencing the deliberate mutilation of male genitalia as a targeted form of gendered violence, equivalent to provisions that exist for female genital mutilation in other jurisdictions. Six emasculation cases in a single quarter justify the creation of such a statutory provision.

Concern 3 - Inadequate Institutional Safeguarding in Madrasa and Residential Educational Settings. The recurrence of teacher-perpetrated sexual abuse of male children in madrasa and residential school settings across multiple divisions, including cases of prolonged abuse spanning six months, indicates the near-total absence of mandatory child safeguarding frameworks in these institutions. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Religious Affairs must be held responsible for remedying this immediately.

Concern 4 - Criminalisation of Salish as a Resolution Mechanism for Sexual Offences. The use of extrajudicial arbitration to resolve criminal sexual offences is illegal under Bangladesh's criminal procedure framework. Documented Salish resolution of VAM-2026-FEB-09 represents a failure of the rule of law that local administrative and police authorities must be held accountable for.

Concern 5 - Absence of a Fugitive Spousal Perpetrator Protocol. The consistent pattern of spousal perpetrators of intimate partner murder and violence fleeing the scene, with no immediate tracking or apprehension mechanism evidenced in the data, points to the absence of any dedicated fugitive management protocol for intimate partner violence cases. Constitution Watchdog calls for Bangladesh Police to establish such a protocol as a matter of urgency.

Concern 6 - Chronic Under-Reporting and Lack of Centralised National Data. All thirty incidents in this report were identified through media monitoring - not through any official government data system. Bangladesh has no functioning, publicly accessible national registry of male victimisation. The absence of institutional data infrastructure perpetuates policy blindness on this issue.

SECTION 13 - RECOMMENDATIONS

On the basis of the findings of this report, Constitution Watchdog advances the following formal recommendations to the relevant authorities:

To the Government of Bangladesh and the National Parliament

• R-01. Enact a comprehensive, gender-neutral Domestic Violence Prevention Act that explicitly recognises male victims of domestic violence and provides equivalent protective mechanisms - including restraining orders, emergency shelter access, and victim support services - to male survivors and the dependents of male victims of intimate partner violence.
• R-02. Amend the Penal Code to introduce a specific aggravated offence of genital mutilation, carrying enhanced sentencing, applicable equally to mutilation of male and female genitalia.
• R-03. Enact a comprehensive Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Act that is gender-neutral in its victim provisions, explicitly covers male children, and consolidates currently fragmented provisions across the Penal Code, the Nari-o-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Ain, and the Children Act into a single, accessible statutory framework.
• R-04. Establish, through the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics or an appropriate national body, a mandatory, publicly accessible National Registry of Violence Against Men, which requires law enforcement and judicial agencies to report, classify, and publish data on male victimisation on a quarterly basis.

To the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Religious Affairs

• R-05. Introduce mandatory child safeguarding standards - including background checks, grievance mechanisms, and mandatory reporting obligations - for all madrasa institutions, residential schools, and private educational facilities, with direct regulatory oversight and penalties for institutional non-compliance.
• R-06. Establish a Child Protection Focal Point in every upazila-level educational administration office, tasked with receiving complaints, coordinating with police, and ensuring no complaint is settled through Salish or informal arbitration.

To Bangladesh Police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)

• R-07. Develop and deploy a Spousal Perpetrator Fugitive Protocol, which mandates immediate registration of spousal intimate partner crime perpetrators as fugitives, coordination with border agencies and district police, and time-bound reporting on apprehension status.
• R-08. Issue a directive prohibiting police acceptance of Salish settlements as resolution of serious criminal offences including sexual assault, murder, and grievous hurt. Officers who facilitate or endorse such resolutions should be subject to departmental action.
• R-09. Designate honey trap operations as organised crime for investigative and prosecutorial purposes, enabling the application of conspiracy and organised crime provisions in addition to individual offence charges.

To the Judiciary

• R-10. Issue sentencing guidelines that specifically address the aggravated nature of genital targeting in intimate partner violence, including cases of emasculation and genital-focused lethal assault.
• R-11. Ensure that all matters involving the sexual abuse of male minors are expedited through the designated Special Tribunals under existing law, with mandatory exclusion of Salish agreements as valid resolution mechanisms.

To Civil Society, Academic Institutions, and Media

• R-12. Invest in research on the social, cultural, and economic determinants of male victimisation in Bangladesh, including qualitative studies on under-reporting dynamics and the efficacy of existing remedial mechanisms.
• R-13. Ensure that media reporting on violence against men adopts the same standards of sensitivity, institutional urgency, and victim-centred framing that are applied to reporting on violence against women.

SECTION 14 - CONCLUSION

The Violence Against Men Monitor of Constitution Watchdog has, through this inaugural quarterly report, placed before the public and the institutions of the State a documented record of thirty incidents of serious violence against men and male children in Bangladesh during the first quarter of 2026. Seven men are dead. Six were mutilated by intimate partners. Ten male children - the youngest eight years old - were sexually abused. Six men were systematically entrapped and exploited.

These are not statistics. They are constitutional failures - each one a breach of the State's obligation to every person within its territory to uphold their right to life, bodily integrity, security of person, and equal protection of the law.

The data in this report exposes a system of multiple, overlapping failures: in legislation that does not recognise male victims; in law enforcement that does not pursue spousal perpetrators with adequate urgency; in institutions - particularly madrasas and residential schools - that harbour predators; in communities that silence victims through informal arbitration; and in national data systems that render male victimisation statistically invisible.

Constitution Watchdog will continue to document, analyse, and report these failures in every quarter of every year until they are remedied. We call upon the Government, Parliament, judiciary, law enforcement, and civil society to join us - not in opposition to any person or group, but in fulfilment of the constitutional promise that every person in Bangladesh is equal before the law, and every victim deserves justice.

Issued by the President, Constitution Watchdog
Md. Ibrahim Khalilullah
2 April 2026, Dhaka, Bangladesh

APPENDIX - FULL INCIDENT REGISTRY: Q1 2026

All source links are on record. Each incident was verified against at least one published media source as at the date of this report.

JANUARY 2026 (Period ID: 01/2026)

FEBRUARY 2026 (Period ID: 02/2026)

MARCH 2026 (Period ID: 03/2026)