Officer-in-Charge of Pabna Sadar Police Station Obaidul Huq, who allegedly arranged the marriage between a gang-rape victim and one of the alleged rapists in an attempt to cover up the crime, has been suspended for his controversial role.

The suspension order was issued by the Police Headquarters yesterday, Rafikul Islam, superintendent of police in Pabna, told our local correspondent today.

Earlier on September 12, the district administration has withdrawn OC Obaidul and suspended Sub-Inspector Ekramul Haque over allegations of arranging a marriage between a rape victim and one of the rapists. 

A woman, 33, also the mother of three children was gang-raped and allegedly forced to marry on of the alleged rapists in Pabna’s Dapunia last month. The victim was also compelled at the police station to sign divorce papers that mentioned an older date to make it seem like the woman was a divorcee.

The woman’s brother earlier told reporters that the marriage on September 5 was arranged by the officers to save the people accused in the gang-rape case.

After the allegations were reported in the media, police in the district formed a three-member committee to probe the matter.

The woman filed a case on the same day accusing five persons of confining her to a room and gang-raping her multiple times on August 29 and August 31. The accused Russel, Shariful Islam Ghontu, Hossain Ali, Osman and Sanju are from different villages in Pabna Sadar.

The district administration’s probe committee submitted report to the cabinet on September 15 saying everything published in the media comes true during the investigation.

The autopsy, conducted on nurse Shahinoor Akter Tania’s body, has found evidence of gang-rape and murder.

Tania, who worked at Ibne Sina Hospital’s Kalyanpur branch in Dhaka, died on her way home by a bus in Kishoreganj’s Katiadi upazila on Monday night.

The post mortem conducted at Kishoreganj General Hospital yesterday found injury marks at nose, neck, legs and hands, Dr Md Habibur Rahman, civil surgeon of Kishoreganj, told our Mymensingh correspondent.

The injury marks bore the signs of serious scuffle and there was a fracture in her head’s back side and her skull was also broken, said the civil surgeon. 

“The profuse bleeding in her head might be the cause for which she succumbed to her injuries,” suggested the civil surgeon.

The forensic doctors also found bleeding in the victim’s private parts, said the civil surgeon quoting the doctors.

THREE MORE PEOPLE HELD

Five people including the bus driver Md Nuruzzaman and its helper Lalon Mia were held by police for their alleged involvement in the rape and murder of Shahinoor Akter Tania. Photo: Collected

Police today arrested three more persons for their alleged involvement in the incident, said Khalilur Rahman Patwari, officer-in-charge of Bajitpur Police Station.

Earlier, the law enforcers arrested bus driver Md Nuruzzaman, 39, and its helper Lalon Mia, 33, yesterday.

All of the accused were produced before a Kishoreganj court with a 10-day remand prayer today, but the court granted a remand for eight days each, said Taufiq Ahmed, court inspector of Kishoreganj.

The victim’s father lodged a murder and rape case with the Bajitpur Police Station naming four including the driver and helper and some unknown persons Tuesday night. 

TRANSPORT LEADERS DEMAND JUSTICE

The leaders of Bangladesh Sarok Paribahan Sramik Federation today expressed grave concern over the death of Tania and demanded justice for her.

The president and general secretary of the federation issued a statement demanding exemplary punishment of the culprits.

They also expressed solidarity with the family of the victim.

WHAT HAPPENED TO TANIA

Tania boarded a Swarnalata Paribahan bus from the capital’s Mohakhali to go to her home in Lohajury in Katiadi around 3:00pm on Monday.

On her way, she spoke with her father and brother Sujan Mia several times on the phone. The bus reached Katiadi around 8:00pm where 16 of the 19 passengers got down. Two others got down at Ujanchar, said Shafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge (investigation) of Katiadi Police Station, quoting family members.

From that point on, she was the only passenger as the bus headed towards Pirijpur, from where her home is some 10 minutes’ rickshaw ride, police and family members said.

Meanwhile, her family was waiting for her. She had called Sujan upon reaching Katiadi, saying she would reach Pirijpur shortly.

When more than an hour passed, the family members called her but found her phone switched off. Anxious, they then rushed to the Pirijpur bus station, but learned that no Swarnalata Paribahan bus reached the station around that time.

Later around 11:00pm, they received a call from the Katiadi Upazila Health Complex and the caller said that Tania died.

Resident Medical Officer Tajnina Toiyyab told The Daily Star that Tania had died before she was taken to the hospital.

During primary interrogation, the driver and helper claimed the woman jumped off the running bus through the window and died, although they could not explain why she would do that, police said.

A mother of two has allegedly been gang-raped by three men due to rivalry over possession of a pond in the district’s Begumganj upazila.

The victim told this newspaper that her husband and three local youths -- Harun, Saiful Islam and Babu -- had been at loggerheads over fish farming for long.

Around 10:30pm on Thursday, around 60-70 men, led by the three youths, surrounded her house in Doalia village when her husband was away. They vandalised properties and assaulted her mother-in-law.

At one stage, the three youths violated the woman and left the home.

The victim was undergoing treatment at Noakhali General Hospital. Her husband filed a case with Begumganj police Thursday night. 

Begumganj OC Firoze Alam Molla said Harun, Saiful and Babu were accused of rape and some 60 to 70 unidentified people of vandalism.

“Babu and Saiful, both aged 30, were held this [yesterday] morning with arms and ammo. Raids are un-derway to arrest Harun,” the OC said.

Abdul Azim, residential medical officer at Noakhali General Hospital, said samples had been collected from the victim to run necessary medical tests.

A Noakhali court today placed seven people including a former Awami League leader on five-day remand each in connection with the gang-rape of a woman in Subarnachar upazila of Noakhali.

Judge of Cognisance Court-2 Nobonita Guha passed the order after police produced them before it around 1:00pm, our local correspondent reports quoting Ibrahim Khalil, investigation officer of the case.

WHO IS THE MASTERMIND OF THE INCIDENT?

The Awami League yesterday expelled Ruhul Amin from the party for his alleged involvement in the gang-rape of a woman in Noakhali's Subarnachar upazila.

The decision came two days after police arrested Ruhul, the publicity affairs secretary of Subarnachar AL, on charge of ordering his accomplices to rape the mother of four for voting for the “sheaf of paddy” -- the BNP's electoral symbol -- in the election held on December 30.

Police arrested Ruhul, whose name was not mentioned in the first information report, from Wapda area in the district's Sadar upazila on Thursday. He is also a former union parishad member.

According to locals, he was once poor and he joined the AL in 2009.

After he was elected member of ward-5 of Char Jubilee Union Parishad in 2011, he led criminal activities in the locality, including drug trading, land grabbing and plundering trees, locals claimed. Later, he was made the publicity affairs secretary of Subarnachar AL.

Once a landless person, Ruhul built a housing estate a kilometre west of Pankhar Bazar on Ramgati-Char Jabbar Road. He named the estate after him, Ruhul Amin Nagar, reports our Noakhali correspondent.

He has a house near the estate.

WHAT HAPPENED IN NOAKHALI?

The 35-year-old woman was gang-raped in Subarnachar area on December 31 allegedly by 10 to 12 Awami League activists.

The woman, who was being treated at Noakhali General Hospital with severe injuries, claimed that she was raped for voting for “sheaf of paddy”, the electoral symbol of the BNP, during Sunday’s national polls.

The woman alleged the rapists were accomplices of Ruhul Amin, a former member of Char Jubilee Union Parishad. “They had repeatedly insisted that I should vote for boat [the AL's symbol] but I cast my ballot for 'sheaf of paddy',” she said.

WHAT DID DOCTORS SAY?

Doctors treating her woman have found evidence of gang rape.