2 held for rape in Thakurgaon, Kushtia

Police arrested a teenager for allegedly raping a speech-impaired girl in Kushtia on Thursday while law enforcers on Friday arrested the mother and sister of a youth who allegedly raped a 10th-grader in Thakurgaon.

The victim and accused are of the same village in Khoksa upazila. The accused on June 26 took the girl to a jute field and raped her. The victim’s mother caught the accused red-handed, Khoksa Police Station’s Sub-Inspector Proshanta Kumar Saha told The Daily Star.

The mother went to local influential people seeking justice but they opted to waste time, said the mother while talking to this paper.

On July 1, they arranged an arbitration where local municipality councilor Imran Hossain and local Jubo League leader Al Amin were present.

“They asked my daughter to narrate the incident in front of all. As my daughter cannot talk clearly and she was shy, she could not narrate the incident properly. When I tried to narrate the incident, they stopped me,” the mother said.

The accused was completely denying the incident, she said.

The arbitration ended with the teen being slapped, punched, and rebuked, said the mother, adding that the teen was termed “adolescent” by the influential people.

The arbitration was filmed by someone and released on social media.

This made the girl even more embarrassed. She left her house and took shelter in one of her relative’s house.  

Police intervened after seeing the video.

The victim’s mother filed a case on Thursday and police arrested the teen later that day at his house, said ABM Mehedi Masud, OC of Khoksa Police Station.

The teen was sent to Sheikh Rassel Safe Home in Kushtia by court on Friday and the victim was sent to Kushtia General Hospital for medical tests.

Imran Hossain and Al Amin said they only heard the victim and had not made any decision in the arbitration.

Meanwhile, a madrasa teacher was sued yesterday on charge of raping one of his students -- an eleven-year-old girl -- in Patuakhali’s Galachipa upazila 10 days ago.

Accused 40-year-old Mohammad Farazi is also the founder of the madrasa in Uttar Char Biswas village. He is on the run, said police.

On June 26, the fourth grader along with others was in class at the madrasa set up in Farazi’s home. At one stage, Farazi took the girl to another room where he raped her, said the father of the victim.  

Later that day, the girl went home and told her mother about the incident.

The victim’s father filed the case with Galachipa Police Station yesterday.

The father said the accused was an influential man in the area and that the filing of the case was delayed due to pressure from him.  

OC Akhter Morshed of the police station said the girl was sent to Patuakhali General Hospital for medical tests.

Thakurgaon police on Friday arrested the mother and sister of a youth, who allegedly raped a 10th-grader at Kazibasti village in Baliadangi upazila on Thursday.

Accused Sujan Ali, 20, is now on the run, said police. 

Talking to The Daily Star, Baliadangi Police Station’s Sub-Inspector Amzad Hossain said the girl on Thursday afternoon was returning home after sitting for an examination at her school. Sujan asked her to visit his home on the way. Sujan raped her in his empty home.

Sujan’s parents found the girl there after returning home. They tried to drive her away but could not. They beat her up and then took her to her home, said the police officer.

The accused’s family threatened of dire consequences if they told police of the matter.

The victim’s family took her to the local health complex.

Later that night, the victim’s father filed a case accusing five people including Sujan and his parents.

Police arrested Sujan’s mother Joriman Begum, 45, and his sister Yasmin Akhter, 19, on Friday. A court sent them to jail on Friday afternoon, said SI Amzad.

In Bogura, police arrested a man yesterday on charges of raping a mother of four.

Arrestee Zihad Hossain is a resident of Sayedpur Purbopara in Shibganj upazila.

Six men ambushed the women’s auto-rickshaw around 9:30pm on Friday when she was returning home in Shibganj upazila from her son’s workplace in Sonatola upazila. They took her to a nearby field where they raped her, said police.

Hearing her screams, locals rescued her. But the six managed to flee, said Mizanur Rahman, OC of Shibganj Police Station.

The family of the victim filed the case yesterday, he said.

Police arrested Zihad but did not disclose the names of the other accused.

In Netrakona, a court yesterday sent a madrasa principal, arrested on Friday on charge of attempting to rape a second-grader in Kendua upazila, to jail.

Our Kushtia, Thakurgaon, Patuakhali, Bogura, and Netrakona correspondents contributed to the report.