Kalabagan Rape: Cops allowed to conduct dope test of accused
A Dhaka court yesterday allowed police to conduct tests to ascertain whether Fardin Iftekhar Dihan, the lone accused in the rape and murder case of a schoolgirl, had taken any narcotics or stimulant drugs.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Begum Yeasmin Ara passed the order after investigation officer AFM Asaduzzaman, also an inspector of Kalabagan Police Station, filed a petition in this regard.
On Sunday, the same court allowed police to conduct DNA tests on samples collected from Dihan, 18, and the victim's bloodstained clothes, following two petitions submitted by the IO.
The victim's father on January 7 had filed the case with Kalabagan Police Station against Dihan under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act after his 17-year-old daughter, an O-level student, was allegedly raped and murdered in the capital's Kalabagan area.
According to the case statement, Dihan tricked the schoolgirl into going to his flat and raped her when his family members were away from home. The victim bled profusely and fell unconscious. Dihan then took her to a hospital to deflect blame, the plaintiff alleged.
On January 8, Dihan gave his confessional statement before a Dhaka court. He is now behind bars.
Meanwhile, the victim's family yesterday demanded exemplary punishment for those involved in the incident through holding a speedy trial of the case.
The parents of the schoolgirl said attempts were being made to divert the investigation by blaming their daughter.
"I want no other parents to lose their beloved child like we did," the victim's mother said at the press conference, organised by Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP), at the Jatiya Press Club.
She alleged that her daughter was abducted by Dihan and his associates on January 7. "She was tortured, raped and murdered brutally at Dihan's home. I went to the hospital and saw Dihan and his three companions sitting there. Dihan begged me to save him."
The victim's mother further complained that police did not record the case the way they expected to file it. She said a quarter was trying to save Dihan and his associates and assassinate her daughter's character.
On behalf of her family, the mother placed four demands before the government. The demands are: bringing criminals to justice, transferring the case to a speedy trial tribunal, conducting a transparent DNA test, and making sure that the family is not harassed.
Maksuda Akhter, director of BMP, read out a statement at the event.
It said unwarranted statements were being made on social media denigrating the victim. The victim's family was worried over a fair and neutral investigation into the incident as the physicians concerned and the police administration were making unwanted remarks from the very beginning, the statement added.
Mahila Parishad also expressed concern over the involvement of increasing number of teenagers and youths in various sexual offenses, including rape. It demanded the authorities take effective measures to control pornography and increase activities for mental development of children and youths.
Speaking at the press conference, BMP acting president Fauzia Moslem said the family, society and the state should take the responsibility for Dihan being spoiled. Blaming of the victim over any rape case or violence against a woman should be stopped, she observed.
Showing a photo taken by the victim's mother, Fauzia said the autopsy did not find any sign of torture on the schoolgirl's body. But the photo shows that there were injury marks on her waist, she added.
The schoolgirl's father was also present at the press conference.
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