Sherpur Gang-rape: Prime accused, five others on the run

Law enforcers could not arrest Omar Ali, prime accused in the mother-daughter gang rape case in Sherpur's Nalitabari, and five of his cohorts even four days after the incident.

The victims' family is now worried about justice.

Bashir Ahmed, officer-in-charge of Nalitabari Police Station, said since the incident, the six have been on the run. Police are using technology and conducting drives and he hopes the perpetrators would be arrested soon.

A 40-year-old mother and her 13-year-old daughter, both intellectually impaired, were raped by a gang early Sunday.

The woman filed a case with Nalitabari Police Station the same day, accusing eight people. Police have so far arrested two, including Abdus Sattar, 45, a cattle trader, and Sadek Mia, 30, a dredger operator.

The six other accused are Omar Ali, Osman Ali, Jahangir Alam, Tara Mia, Mofiz Uddin and Ahmed Ali, said Bashir Ahmed, office-in-charge of Nalitabari Police Station.

According to locals, the perpetrators and the victims are from the same village -- Palashikuri.

The victim woman's elder sister said she visited the police station to urge them to arrest the six remaining accused as soon as possible.

She said, "My sister is suffering a lot. Her husband is mentally challenged and her 22-year-old son runs their six-member family by driving a CNG-run auto-rickshaw."

Omar Ali was a garments worker in Dhaka and lost his job during the pandemic. He came back to the village and started working as a farm labourer on his own and hired land, said Fazlul Haque, senior vice chairman of Poragaon union Awami League.