Background: Rape is an unlawful sexual offence carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against a person's will. Rape is a global problem. Sexual violence shatters lives, wounds communities and perpetuates injustice.
Objective: The objective of the study is to find out the frequency of reported rape cases in a rural district of Bangladesh and also to compare the age category of victims, level of education and socio-demographic characteristics. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study carried out in the department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Comilla Medical College January 2020 to December 2020) with the support of the department faculties in reviewing the records using checklist. A total of 282 sexually assaulted victims, from different police station of Comilla district were sent for medico- legal examination in Forensic Medicine department during the mentioned period. Informed written consent was taken from the victims before examination in the department of Forensic Medicine, considering ethical issues.
Results: This study shows that 18.09% of rape cases was reported in the month of October 2020, 10.64% cases in September & December 2020. A total of 9.93 % of rape cases were filed from Debidwar upazila, 8.87 % cases from Adarsha sadar upazila, 8.16 % cases from Sadar dakshin upazila, 7.45 % cases from Chandina upazila, 7.10 % cases from Burichang and Titas upazila. It was revealed from the findings that among 282 sexually assaulted victims 77 (27.30%) are in 16-20 years age group and 68(24.11%) in 10-15 years of age group.236 ( 83.68% ) of the victims are Muslims. Marital status reveals that 158 (56.03%) of the rape victims are unmarried. Level of education is poor. 112 (39.71 %) of rape victims are completely illiterate, 80 (28.36 %) of victims have the knowledge of primary education, 70 (24.82 %) have knowledge of secondary education and remaining 20 (7.09%) are students of higher secondary level. Majority of the victims, 185 (65.60%) are from low socio-economic status.
Conclusion: Government should recognize sexual violence as major public health problem and create appropriate laws to protect the rights of children and women of Bangladesh.