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The rape of a child in Bangladesh has cast a shadow over the celebrations of the Hindu festival of colours on Friday. The festival, which is traditionally celebrated with great pomp and ceremony across the country, has been subdued due to the cloud of rape incident.
An eight-year-old girl died on March 13 after being allegedly raped. The incident sparked outrage and protests across Bangladesh. Aditi Das, who came to celebrate the Festival at the Ramna Kali Temple located in the heart of the capital Dhaka, said, "We are celebrating the Colour Festival in Bangladesh. It brings peace, harmony, and liberal mentality for us. We want a liberal country. We want a liberal Bangladesh, Happy Holi!". "Actually, we are celebrating here today, but we are sad. A little girl died. She was brutally raped and she died. We are sad about her. I wish that the rapist should be punished," she added. Speaking to ANI, Aditi said, "Our thinking, our mentality should change. It all about our upbringing, our social circumstances, social environment everything. So we should change our mentality". Aditi said she feels free to celebrate her religious festivals in Muslim majority Bangladesh of 170 million people, but "sometimes they get interrupted". Hundreds of men and women of all ages celebrated the Festival of Colours by dancing, singing, and applying colours at the Ramana Kali Temple. A student from Government Titumir College in Dhaka said, "This festival is called the colour festival. This day our Lord Radha and Krishna celebrated at Boikunthadham, that's why we called it Holi. In Bangla we called it Doljatra - Suvo Doljatra. We celebrate this festival in gratitude to our Lord Krishna and Radha." "I first celebrated the festival during my childhood when I was one or two years. In my childhood I celebrated more rather than I celebrated this time," she told ANI. Swasti Kundo, a national award-winning dancer of Bangladesh, said, "Holi Festival is called Dol Utsab in Bengali. Through this colour, everyone's sorrows are removed". (ANI)
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