Khulna Gangrape: A case filed against OC, 5 other cops
A case was filed against the recently-withdrawn officer-in-charge and five other cops of Khulna Railway Police Station on charge of gangraping a woman in police custody on August 2.
Khulna Railway Police registered the case around 10:00pm on Friday following court directives, said Firoz Ahmed, assistant superintendent of police (Kushtia Railway Circle), who is also heading one of the two probe committees over the incident.
He added that the case was filed under section 15 of the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013.
“The court directed police to record the case based on the woman’s complaint. In compliance with the court order, railway police has filed the case, in which the woman has been made plaintiff,” Firoz told The Daily Star.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Nazrul Islam, superintendent of police (SP) of Pakshey Railway Police, on the same day sent a letter a to the district’s Senior Judicial Magistrate Court, informing it that railway police had complied with the court order and recorded the case.
“The responsibility of investigating into the case had been given to Firoz Ahmed, assistant superintendent of police [ASP], Kushtia Railway Circle. The case is now under investigation,” the letter, signed my ASP Nazrul, read.
The Daily Star obtained a copy of the letter.
Contacted, the accused OC, Osman Gani Pathan, yesterday once again denied the allegation of raping the woman and claimed that he was not present at the police station that night.
On August 2, the woman was detained inside a train by railway police in Phultala Railway Station around 7:30pm. She was then forced to disembark and was taken to Khulna Railway Station, where she was gangraped, the woman’s sister said.
The next day, the alleged rapists filed a case against the victim for possessing five bottles of Phensedyl, after which a court sent her to jail.
On August 4, the victim filed a complaint with the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court against the policemen.
In the complaint, the woman alleged that Osman Gani Pathan, OC of Government Railway Police Station in Khulna, and four other cops gangraped her in a room inside the police station.
The incident continued moments before Fajr prayers the next morning.
The woman could only tell the name of the OC but not the other policemen. She however claimed in the complaint that she would be able to identify the faces of the other cops if she saw them again.
After receiving the complaint, the court on the same day sent the victim to Khulna Medical College Hospital (KMCH) for a medical test and later directed police to record a First Information Report (FIR) against the concerned OC and others accused.
After the allegations came to light, the Police Headquarters and Railway Police formed two separate probe bodies to investigate the incident.
On August 7, authorities withdrew two policemen, including the OC, and attached them to Pakshey Railway Police.