Court records victims' statements

Four women of a family, who were reportedly raped by four robbers during a robbery, yesterday gave their statement before a Chittagong court.

The court of second Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Salem Md Noman recorded their statements, said Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) (prosecution) Nirmalendu Bikash Chawakrabarty of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP).

Two of the victims, in their statements, said they were raped while the other two said the robbers attempted to rape them but failed.

However, in the case statement, the victim family initially mentioned that all the four women -- wives of three expatriate siblings and their sister-in-law -- were raped by four robbers in their Shahmirpur residence in the early hours of December 13. The family claimed that they managed to lodge the complaint four days after the incident, following the intervention of State Minster for Land Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed.

Forensic test reports of the four victims are yet to come, said police. Currently, Police Bureau of Investigation is investigating the case. Seven people have been arrested so far. Two of the arrestees gave confessional statements before the magistrates.