Six youths held on rape charges in capital

Police yesterday arrested six persons in connection with a rape case in the capital's Kalyanpur area.

The arrestees are Raihan alias Nayeem, Imon Hossain, Md Imran, Joy Mia, Abu Sayeed, and Al Amin. They are all aged between 18 and 20, police said.

They were made accused in a rape case filed with Mirpur Police Station by the victim's family yesterday.

Law enforcers claimed they detained the six within hours, by 3am yesterday, after the incident took place near House Building Research Institute in Kalyanpur between 8:35pm and 9:20pm on Wednesday.

According to a police release provided to media during a press conference at Mirpur Police Station yesterday, the victim, a garment worker aged 18, met Raihan and Joy around 8pm Wednesday near a foot-over bridge in Darus Salam area.

At one point, Raihan held her mouth shut and took her to a place near the House Building Research Institute under Mirpur Police Station. Other suspects joined them there. Raihan and Imon raped the victim, while other accused were present there during the incident, said the release.

Officer-in-Charge Mustazirur Rahman of Mirpur Police Station said they will produce the accused before a court today.

The OC said they conducted a drive after receiving a complaint over the incident and first detained Raihan form Darus Salam area. Police later apprehended others based on information gleaned from Raihan.

Police also sent the victim to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for forensic test, said the OC.

The victim's father, a street vendor, told The Daily Star Raihan is a relative of the family and that his daughter used to have friendly relations with the accused.

He claimed that after his daughter described the incident to family members upon returning home on Wednesday night, they went to Raihan's house for justice.

Despite hearing everything, Raihan's family reportedly refused to take any step, and instead rebuked father of the victim.

He said later they informed police about the incident, demanding justice for her daughter.