Cops asked to arrest culprit

The High Court yesterday directed the police to immediately arrest Abu Taleb who allegedly torched a girl in Comilla, and report to it in this regard in three days.
The court also ordered the director of Dhaka Medical College Hospital to test DNA of the victim's unborn baby to identify its father.
The victim is a class VIII student at Matankur Paschimpara High School in Comilla.
The HC bench of Justice M Imman Ali and Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif passed the order in response to a writ petition filed following a report published in The Daily Star on Wednesday headlined “Brutality beats the beast”.
According the report, the victim became pregnant after Abu Taleb, her 35-year-old neighbour, raped her. Taleb allegedly set her on fire on Sunday to destroy the evidence of his crime.
The victim, now into seventh month of her pregnancy, is under treatment at DMCH with about 76 percent of her body burned.
The HC bench also ordered the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Dhaka to record statements of the victim, and ruled on the government to explain why its inefficiency in protecting the girl should not be declared illegal.
It also appreciated The Daily Star report.
Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association filed the writ petition seeking directives on the government.
Fahima Nasrin appeared for the petitioner while Deputy Attorney General Motahar Hossain Saju stood for the government.