In the rape case involving the daughter of a martyr from the July uprising, two arrested accused have confessed to their crimes in court.
Subsequently, they were sent to jail. The DNA test report related to the gang rape is expected to reach Patuakhali police – hometown of the victim – on April 27.
Patuakhali Superintendent of Police (SP) Anwar Zahid confirmed these details to Times of Bangladesh on Sunday afternoon.
However, the college-going girl, who was the victim of the assault, did not live to see any progress in her case. On Saturday night, she allegedly committed suicide at a residence in Dhaka.
Citing the victim’s relatives, Adabor Police Station in Dhaka reported that around 9:30pm, the girl attempted suicide by hanging. She later passed away while undergoing treatment at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital in the capital.
A relative waiting at the hospital to receive her body said, “After being raped, she was mentally shattered.” The relative added, “We believe she committed suicide after being heartbroken by the news that the prime accused, Shakib, had been granted bail.”
However, police confirmed that Shakib, along with another accused, remains in jail.
On 19 July last year, during an anti-discrimination student-people’s movement in Mohammadpur, the victim’s father was shot. He died ten days later while undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. He was buried at their village home in Dumki, Patuakhali.
In March this year, the girl visited her father’s grave in Dumki, and on her way back, she was gang-raped. The next day, she filed a case against two individuals. The accused are Shakib Munshi (19), a 12th-grade student at a local college, and Sifat (17), a 10th-grade secondary school student.
SP Anwar Zahid informed Times of Bangladesh that after the girl filed the case at Dumki Police Station on the afternoon of March 20, Shakib Munshi was arrested later that same day around 3:30pm. The following day, the district detective police arrested Sifat from a village in Nazirpur Upazila of Pirojpur.
SP Anwar further stated that the two arrested individuals subsequently confessed to their involvement in the gang rape under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. They were later sent to jail.
He added that the DNA test report related to the gang rape is expected to reach Patuakhali police on Sunday.