Rape Charges: Nine arrested in six districts
A Bogura court sent an arrestee to jail yesterday, a day after he was picked up by police from Dhunat upazila on charges of raping four schoolgirls.
Eight more people were held over rape allegations in five other districts on Monday and Tuesday.
The arrestee in Bogura is Joynal Abedin, 52, a rickshaw puller from Khaduli village in Dhunat upazila.
Quoting the victims’ families, police said local children used to visit Joynal’s home to collect olive from an olive tree there.
Joynal was alone at his home on Friday as his wife went to visit a relative while their three sons, all garment workers, had been at their workplaces in Dhaka.
Around noon, two third-graders went there to collect olives. Joynal enticed the girls to enter his room with the promise that they would be given more olives.
As the two stepped inside, Joynal locked the door from inside and violated them, Gaziur Rahman, additional superintendent of police (Sherpur circle), told The Daily Star.
On Sunday, two class-I students went to his home for the same purpose and the accused raped them using the same trick.
Injured badly, one of the victims informed her family members about the incident after returning home, said the police official.
The victims also said Joynal had threatened them with death if they disclosed the matter, said police.
On Tuesday morning, victims’ families informed the local union parishad chairman about the incidents and the chairman subsequently informed the police.
Law enforcers picked up Joynal from Khaduli village on Tuesday. Hours after his arrest, fathers of two schoolgirls filed two rape cases against him.
Police said the accused admitted his crime during primary interrogation.
Yesterday, the victims were sent to Bogura Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital for tests.
A three-member medical team was formed to examine the victims, said hospital sources.
In Panchagarh, police arrested a man from Pashchim Molanipara village on Tuesday on charges of raping a seven-year-old girl.
The arrestee is Ashraf Ali, 55, of the same village.
Ashraf used to frequent the victim’s house as a neighbour. On Tuesday afternoon, he took the minor girl to his home and raped her in absence of his family members.
Hearing a girl screaming, neighbours rescued the victim and detained Ashraf. He was later handed over to police.
The victim’s father filed a case with Panchagarh Police Station on Tuesday night.
In another incident in the district, a man was sent to jail by a local court on Tuesday afternoon on charges of raping a schoolgirl.
Police picked up Jagadis Chandra Roy, 30, from Panchagarh town on Monday. The following day, the victim’s elder brother filed a case against Jagadis.
Quoting the victim’s family, police said Jagadis, a house tutor of the class-X student, raped the girl for about four years with the promise that he would marry her.
In Dhaka, police picked up two men from Savar upazila’s Ashulia area early on Tuesday for allegedly gang-raping a garment worker in Gazirchat area the previous day.
The arrestees are Kaiyum, 26, of Shathmaria village in Sherpur, and Tuhin Alam, 44, of Mushoria village in Pabna.
In Jhalakathi, police picked up the mother and the stepfather of a 13-year-old schoolgirl from the district town on Tuesday night for allegedly helping some men raping the girl who later became pregnant.
Quoting the victim, police said the sixth-grader was raped by several men with the help of the two arrestees about five months ago.
Yesterday, the victim filed a case with Jhalakathi Sadar Police Station against her mother and stepfather. Later, a local court sent the arrestees to jail after the couple were produced before it.
Police said they were probing the incident to identify the rapists.
In Tangail, police arrested a 16-year-old boy in Delduar upazila on Tuesday over raping a schoolgirl.
The arrest came hours after the victim’s father, a rickshaw-van puller, filed a case against the youth, a neighbour of the victim, with Delduar Police Station.
According to the case statement, the arrestee raped the class-VII student on Monday night when she was alone at her home.
The victim was sent to Tangail General Hospital yesterday for tests, said police.
In Moulvibazar, a court on Tuesday sent a 25-year-old youth to jail on charges of raping a college girl in Kulaura upazila the previous day.
The accused is a cousin of the victim.
Police picked up the accused from his home on Tuesday morning, hours after the victim filed a case with Kulaura Police Station.
A local court sent the arrestee to jail after he was produced before it.Our correspondents in Bogura, Jhalakathi, Savar, Thakurgaon, Tangail, and Moulvibazar contributed to this report.
Comments