Six arrested over gang rape

Police arrested six men in Savar on Sunday night for allegedly gang raping a woman while confining her husband to another room.

The perpetrators also held the couple captive and demanded Tk 20,000 from their family as ransom, said police.

The incident took place in Narshingpur area of Ashulia when the 24-year-old woman and her husband -- both RMG workers -- came to a relative's house in the evening.

The woman, who is now at One-Stop Crisis Centre of Dhaka Medical College Hospital for medical tests, said around eight men entered the house and started asking them about their whereabouts. The relatives were not home at that time.

They forcibly took the couple to another house, beat them up and raped her while confining the husband to another room. The perpetrators then demanded Tk 20,000 as ransom from the woman's father-in-law over the phone.

The father-in-law then informed the matter to police. Around 1:00am, when two of them came to meet him at a predetermined place for the money, police arrested them.

After gleaning information, police rescued the couple around 2:00am, said Javed Masud, officer-in-charge (investigation) of Ashulia Police Station.

He said the husband filed a case with the police station on Monday, accusing eight persons. Police have so far arrested six of them.

The arrestees are Jahidul Islam, 22, Azad Hossen, 24, Rana Sarker, 28, Robiul Sheikh, 20, Rubel, 22, and Sagor Hossen, 24. They all live in nearby areas, the OC added.

“We are trying to arrest the other two -- Rozon and Shohag,” he said. “During primary investigation, we found out that all the accused were involved in crimes in the area.”

According to locals, Rozon works for a local union parishad (UP) member, who is also an Awami League leader of Savar's Yearpur Union.

The UP member could not be reached for comments, despite numerous attempts.