Schoolgirl's rape prompts protests in B'desh

Tribals staged protests with road blockades using burning tyres over an alleged gang rape of a young student in a hill district in southeastern Bangladesh, prompting authorities to restrict movement and deploy paramilitary forces Saturday.

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Protesters, mostly belonging to majority Chakma ethnic minority group, demanded justice for the alleged gang rape of an eighth-grade schoolgirl in Khagrachhari district, one of the three hill districts of Chittagong Hill Tracts bordering India and Myanmar.

During the daylong blockade, under the banner of Jumma Chhatra-Janata, the protestors erected barriers at several key points of the town, including at its entry points, and also blocked vehicular movement at internal routes of the district using tree trunks, bricks along with the burning tyres prompting the officials to restrict movement, media reports said.