Suspects confess to murder, girl found alive
A girl, who had allegedly been raped and murdered according to an abduction case, was found alive yesterday, 51 days after her going missing from Bandar upazila of Narayanganj.
A police team found her in Kushiyara area of the upazila yesterday morning and brought her to Narayanganj Sadar Model Police Station, law enforcers said.
As the girl went missing, the abduction case was filed with Sadar Police Station against three persons, including two youths. Later, the trio confessed in a court that the body of the girl was dumped in the Shitalakkhya river after gang-rape and murder.
Meanwhile, the families of the youths claimed that the police had beaten the three accused, who are now in jail, in remand and forced them to make their confessional statement. However, the police denied the allegation.
Narayanganj Additional Superintendent of Police (administration) Mostafizur Rahman told at a press briefing yesterday noon that the fifth-grader had been missing since July 4.
About two weeks after her disappearance, her mother lodged a general diary (GD) with the Narayanganj Sadar Model Police Station on July 17.
On August 6, her father filed an abduction case with the police station. Later, the police arrested three youths after tracking the call list of the girl's mother.
On August 9, the accused testified under Section 164 in separate courts of Narayanganj Senior Judicial Magistrate and Judicial Magistrate. In their confessional statement, the accused said that they had killed the schoolgirl in a boat after raping her and threw her body in the Shitalakkhya river, said police.
After their confessional statement, the accused were sent to jail. Since then, the trio -- Md Abdullah, 22, Md Rakib, 19, and Khalilur Rahman, 36, -- are in jail.
Addressing the press briefing, ASP Mostafizur Rahman said, "Today, we came to know that the girl was not raped. The girl met one of the three accused on the day of the incident. Later in the night, she fled with her ex-boyfriend named Iqbal," the police official said adding then, the two got married and started living in a rented house in Bandar Kushiyara area.
On the afternoon of August 23, the girl called her mother and asked for money. Later in the morning, police found her in Kushiyara area and arrested her husband, the police official said.
About the confessional statement of the accused, Mostafizur Rahman said, "Why they made the confession will be known after investigation."
Shiuli Akhter, mother of accused Abdullah, said, "Police arrested my son without any proper investigation. Later, he was beaten in remand and forced to confess to gang-rape and murder."
Rakib's elder brother Md Sajib said, "My brother is innocent. He says he is being framed. Even after that, the police took him in remand and beat him twice. Later, police took this statement."
Khalilur's wife Sharmin Akhter said, "SI Shamim Al Mamun of Sadar Model Police Station demanded TK 20,000 from us. He took Tk 10,000 saying that my husband would not be beaten. The SI beat up my husband even after taking the money and forced him to make statement. I want justice."
Abdullah's mother Shiuli Akhter also brought similar allegation against SI Shamim.
When asked about the allegations, ASP Mostafizur Rahman said, "No such complaint was found. This matter will be investigated. If any police member is guilty, departmental action will be taken against them."
Contacted, SI Shamim Al Mamun expressed unwillingness to make any comment in this regard.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Sadar Model Police Station Asaduzzaman said, "The confession was made in court, not to the police. I don't know why they lied. It may be that they have admitted to a previous incident."
He also said the allegation of beating was "false". "If money changed hands, it will be investigated," he added.
Comments