Eight held for rape in 3 districts

Police arrested six people on charge of gang-raping a woman, while a madrasa teacher was sent to jail for sexually harassing a student.

Besides, another madrasa teacher and a teenage boy were arrested on charge of attempting to rape a third-grader and a two-year-old girl.

In Ashulia of Dhaka, Robin, 22, Akbar Hossain, 23, Shanto, 21, Imran, 20, Nahid, 21, and Azimuddin Mollah, 50, have been arrested for gang-raping a woman yesterday.

Police said the victim used to live with one of her cousins in a house owned by Azimuddin in Taiyabpur area of Ashulia. Robin, a “friend” of the victim, was a resident of the same area.

On Monday evening, four of Robin’s friends Akbar, Shanto, Imran, and Nahid visited Robin. At night, Robin called the victim’s cousin and took her out for a walk, said Inspector (investigation) Ziaul Haque of Ashulia Police Station.

At that time, the four broke into the victim’s house and gang-raped her while the house owner Azimuddin stood guard outside, he said.

As the girl started shouting, locals went to the house and rescued her, said the officer, adding that the victim filed a case against the six yesterday morning.

In Narayanganj, a court on Monday sent a madrasa teacher to jail for sexually harassing a third-grader.

Officer-in-Charge Md Aslam Hossain of Fatullah Model Police Station said guardians of the victims filed a case against Shahidul Islam, 48, a teacher of Shafinatul Ummah Mohila Madrasa, alleging that he sexually harassed the girl.

Following the complaint, police arrested the accused on Sunday, said the OC, adding that he was sent to jail by the court the next day. 

During primary interrogation by police, the accused confessed to sexually harassing the girl, the OC added.

At Sadar upazila in Jashore, police arrested Rakib Uddin, 40, a teacher of Chandpara Ulum Khademul Quran Madrasa, on Monday for an alleged attempt to rape one of his third-grade students.

Police said the accused tried to rape the girl inside the madrasa on Monday. 

After the victim shared the incident with her mother, she filed a case with Chandpara Police Station, said Milon Kumar Mandal, in-charge of the station, adding that they arrested Rakib that night.

Meanwhile, in Jashore’s Sharsha upazila, a teenage boy was detained for allegedly attempting to rape a two-year-old child.

OC Ataur Rahman of Sharsha Police Station said the victim went to watch television at a neighbour’s house on Monday morning.

The boy, finding her alone, tried to rape her. When the child started crying, neighbours rescued her, the OC said.

They detained the boy at night following a complaint lodged by the victim’s father, he added. 

(Our Savar, Narayanganj and Benapole correspondents contributed to the report)