Skeleton theft may sound quite unfamiliar to many people. But it has been happening over the years across Bangladesh. These thieves first dig out skeletons from graves, take those to a secluded place, deep in the forest or hilly areas, wash and clean those and then hand those over to other members. The bones and skulls are then sold to students of medical universities or traffickers to smuggle to neighbouring countries. Skeletons are sold at high prices.
One such incident took place recently in Pirganj of Thakurgaon. The skeletons of 19 graves have been stolen from a graveyard in just one night. We hope and believe that law enforcers will work effectively so that these skeleton thieves can be caught and exemplary punishment meted out.
Ashikujaman Syed,
Research Assistant,
Bioinformatics Research Lab,
Center for Research Innovation and Development (CRID),
syedashikujaman@yahoo.com