A Dhaka court has granted a five-day remand for one of two men arrested over the alleged sexual assault of a 17-year-old college student in a launch cabin while travelling from Hatiya Tamrudi Launch Ghat to Dhaka on Sunday night.
The suspects, Mohammad Sakib Uddin, 26, and Mohammad Nuruzzaman Mithu, 32, were presented before the court by Inspector Mohammad Moshiul Alam of Kotwali Police Station, the investigation officer.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Siddiq Azad granted a five-day remand for Sakib after the investigation officer requested a seven-day to question him in connection with the case.
Mithu gave a confessional statement, which was formally recorded in court, SI Abul Kalam Azad of the prosecution department said.
According to the complaint, the student boarded the Dhaka-bound launch Farhan-4 on Sunday night. She alleged that the two men entered her cabin during the night and sexually assaulted her.
Her brother filed a case against the accused on Monday night with Kotwali Police Station. Following the complaint, police admitted the victim to a hospital and conducted drives that led to the arrests of both suspects, according to OC Shah Md Faisal Ahmed.
Police said the victim had been left alone in her cabin by her father before the alleged assault. The accused then allegedly boarded the vessel, entered the cabin later that night, and sexually assault the girl.
Authorities have called for heightened vigilance and stricter monitoring on inter-district launches in light of the incident.
