A young woman, who was abducted from Teknaf and subjected to a gang rape, has been rescued from Cox’s Bazar by a team of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
Three members of the criminal syndicate have been arrested in connection with the incident.
The victim, Tahira Yasmin (not her real name), was abducted on 29 October from in front of Jame Mosque in Shilbunia, Teknaf Sadar Union. Her boyfriend, Yasin Arafat, handed her over to the kidnappers under the pretext of marriage.
The syndicate then confined her to a house where she was gang-raped. Subsequently, she was sold to a woman from Rohingya camp named Shabe Kadar. This woman then brought Tahira to Cox’s Bazar with the intention of selling her again.
Acting on a tip-off on Sunday, RAB personnel rescued Tahira from Dolphin Mor in the Kolatoli area of Cox’s Bazar city. The following day, Monday, the three accused were arrested from the Eidgah Field area of Teknaf Municipality.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Rezaul Karim,28, Ebadul Haque ,29, and Md. Abdul Gafur, 36.
Assistant Director (Media & Law) of RAB-15 and Assistant Superintendent of Police, AM Faruk, confirmed the details.
He informed that after the abduction, the victim was held captive at the house of Abdur Razzak in Kulalpara, Teknaf Municipality.
There, on 30 October, she was gang-raped by Rezaul Karim, Ebadul Haque, Md Rashid, and Md Saiful Islam.
The abduction ring sold the victim through a tomtom driver named Abdul Gafur to a Rohingya woman at Block D/1 of Camp No. 26 in Jadimura area under Hnila Union around 10:00pm on 1 November, reads a press release.
The family of the victim had filed a General Diary (GD) at Teknaf Sadar Model Police Station on 30 October and sought RAB’s assistance in locating her.
Following this, a joint operational team from RAB-15 Sadar and Teknaf Camp launched a drive and initiated intelligence surveillance, leading to the successful rescue operation.
