4th grader abducted, raped for 25 days in Natore

A fourth grade student was kidnapped, and raped for 25 days until the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) rescued the girl from Gurudaspur upazila of Natore district today.

PBI also arrested the accused, Mithun Sawdagar, 30, and his sister Shahina, 32, within 24 hours of taking responsibility of the investigation, said Abul Kalam Azad, PBI superintendent in Rajshahi.

A court in Natore recorded judicial confession of the rape accused, he told our Rajshahi staff correspondent.

The 10-year-old was kidnapped on March 7 from her home at Shingra upazila in the district. On March 9, her mother filed a case with a Natore court, accusing five persons including Mithun and Shahina.

In the case statement, she alleged that Shahina and her husband Dablu kidnapped her daughter on a motorcycle after she denied to marry off her daughter to Mithun. Mithun's other sister Nila and his friend Samrat Kalu were abetting in the kidnap, she alleged.

On the same day, the Natore court ordered Shingra Police Station to file the case and asked PBI to investigate.

The March 9 dated court order reached Shingra police on March 26 when it recorded the case and forwarded it to PBI in Rajshahi.

On receiving the case on March 31, the PBI used information and communication technology and arrested Shahina from Chatchkoir area in Gurudaspur upazila last night.

They raided several locations following information from Shahina, but the girl was not found.

Tracking Mithun's cell phone, a PBI team led by Sub-inspector Saidur Rahman arrested him from a distant relative's house at Nazirpur village in Gurudaspur upazila.

The PBI team also rescued the girl from Mithun's capture.

The girl then revealed to the PBI team how she was raped every day for the last 25 days since her abduction.

"I wanted to go home, but he kept threatening me that he'd kill me," PBI officer Saidur Rahman quoted her as saying.

The girl was being taken to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital for treatment and medical tests, he said.

The victim's mother could not be reached for answer as to why she chose to file the case with a court, instead of filing it with the local police.

The lawyer of the victim's mother Farhad Hossain said, filing the case with a court instead of local police station might be a reason for the delay in rescuing her.

"She (the mother) told the court that the local police station refused to record her case, but she could not show any document to support her claim," Hossain said.