Housewife, teenager gang-raped in Ctg, Lalmonirhat; 9 held

Nine people were arrested over the alleged gang-rapes of a housewife in Chattogram and a teenager in Lalmonirhat on Friday.

In Chattogram, a housewife was kidnapped as she was returning home on a rickshaw from Bahaddarhat Bus Terminal. The miscreants kidnapped her when she reached Moulvipukurpar area and gang-raped her in a nearby building.

Deputy Commissioner Bijoy Bosak of Chattogram Metropolitan Police confirmed the matter and said the victim was sent to Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH) for medical tests. 

Eight people linked with the incident have been arrested from different parts of the city. 

In Lalmonirhat, a 15-year-old girl was gang raped on Tuesday night and the incident came to light on Friday. The victim is currently in police custody at present.

One of the rape suspects has been arrested. Police and the victim identified him as Rocky, a resident of Kaliganj Upazila's Tushbhandar area and son of Rajab Ali. He is an autorickshaw driver.

The victim said local leaders realised a hefty fine from the rapists but gave her only enough money to go back home and threatened her.

She said she was returning to Kawnia from Patgram on Tuesday evening by inter-city Korotoa Express train. She got down at Kaliganj's Kakina station for refreshments and missed the train.

It is here that Rocky approached her and convinced her to travel with him on an autorickshaw to Kawnia.

Instead of heading to Kawnia, Rocky took a detour and around midnight stopped near a water pump where he raped her with three of his accomplices.

They let her go after she promised not to disclose the incident. The clearly disoriented victim was loitering in the area when locals approached her. When she told them about her ordeal, they took her to the house of a village policeman.

On Thursday night, the local leaders held a kangaroo court and realised a large sum of money from the rapists after the victim identified them.

Instead of giving her the money, the men gave her Tk 2,000 for travel and medical expenses and sent her away. She went to Kaliganj Press Club on Friday noon with the help of locals.

From there, police took the victim into custody. She filed a case against four people around 9pm.

"We've arrested one of the accused," Officer-in-Charge Forhad Hossain said. "We're trying to arrest the rest."

A series of recent rape incidents have sparked countrywide protests. The government on Thursday said it would amend the law to ensure the maximum penalty for rape.

Ain-o-Salish Kendra (ASK) said that between January and September 2020 nearly 1,000 rape cases were reported, including 208 gang rapes.