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| Bangladesh |
| 3 suspects arrested |
| 2009-08-14 |
| [Bangla Daily Star] Police yesterday arrested three suspects for their involvement in the gang rape of a 14-year-old schoolgirl in Faridpur but the FIR named accused are still at large. The arrestees are Shourov, an alleged miscreant with knowledge on Internet browsing, Masud and Tushar's brother-in-law Tohu Kazi alias Tohurul. Police said they would be taken on remand for interrogation. Locals alleged that though the incident took place on July 9 and the news spread as the rapists took footage of their savagery, uploaded it on Internet and printed CDs, police said they were totally unaware of the incident. The locals also said when a case was filed with the Faridpur Women and Children Repression Prevention Court on August 11, the rapists were still in their localities and Faridpur town. "Had police launched a massive dragnet, they could have arrested the two FIR named accused Tushar Khan and Kalam Khan," said a local schoolteacher. The victim's family members and the locals said after the incident came to limelight, an arbitration was arranged in the locality where Tushar's father tried to settle the matter by giving Tk 5 lakh to the victim's family. However, with all these developments police only moved to arrest the accused after the court had sent the case for investigation. Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Charbhadrashan Police Station Ariful Haque said he joined the police station a few days ago and was making an all-out effort to arrest the accused. Meanwhile, police picked up a number of computer and CD shop owners on Wednesday. They were later released. The victim's mother alleged that police took her husband to locate the residences of the accused during the raid on Tuesday. After the raid police confined him in the police station till 3:00pm the next day without any food. As a result he fell unconscious as he returned home. She also alleged that while interrogating her husband police held her mother responsible as the victim was coming from her grandmother's house. "Police even threatened to fire my mother from her job at Charbhadrashan Health Complex," said victim's mother. While tears rolled down her cheeks she said, "Though my daughter was raped, police tried to put the blame on us." She alleged that the police are talking the words of the accused. She, however, could name the police officer who interrogated her husband. She said her husband, who at the moment went to visit her ailing daughter, could provide more details of the cop. Asked, the OC denied the allegation of such racking interrogation. |
| Posted by:Fred |