Md Joynal Abedin Khan :
A tense situation is prevailing across Bogra district following a barbarian torture like shaving heads of a raped college girl and her mother at a councilor’s house after being picked up by some ruling party men from their residence in the district on Friday night.
Thousands of people from different walks of lives on Friday staged demonstration and formed human chain in the town’s Satmatha area protesting the heinous act by a female councilor and her cohorts in their custody, reports our Bogra correspondent.
The protest was arranged under the banner of Bangladesh Sachetan Nagarik Samaj (conscious citizens’ group).
The demonstrators also sought exemplarily punishment to the councilor and her cohorts.
The people, mainly school and college girls and their guardians, are worried about their security due to ‘autocratic rule’ of the ruling party men.
The attendance of the students was very thin at different educational institutions following the sensational incident.
In the meantime, a team of Detective Branch (DB) of police arrested Bogra municipality woman councillor Marzia Akter alias Rumki and her mother Rumi from a house in Pabna Sadar town around 7:30 pm on Sunday, said M Asaduzzaman, Superintendent of Police (SP) of Bogra.
“Marzia was arrested in connection with the barbarian torture like heads shave on a raped victim girl and her mother at her house, the SP said.
They, in their attempt to muffle the victim, picked up the student and her mother, tortured them for four hours and then shaved their heads, the police official said.
Police also have arrested Bogra Town Sramik League Convener Tufan Sarker, his accomplices Ali Azam Dipu, Rupom and Atik on charges of abetting the rape of the girl, the police official said. Earlier, Tufan raped the 17-year old college girl on July 17 and several times later, promising her admission to a good college. Following the incident, the victim’s mother filed the rape and torture case against 10 people, including Tufan, his wife Asha, Asha’s elder sister and Bogra municipality woman councillor Marzia Akter, said Emdad Hossain, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Bogra Sadar Police Station.
The accused are Sramik League leader, Tufan Sarker, his wife Asha Sarkar, Asha’s elder sister Marzia Akter, Ali Azam and Rupom, the OC said.
The law enforcers made the arrests on Friday in a case filed by the mother of the raped girl, he said.
“They beat up the girl and her mother and later released them after shaving their heads,” OC Emdad said.
Meanwhile, the three accused, including Tufan Sarker, were placed on a three-day remand in a case filed for raping a girl.
Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bogra Shyam Sundar Roy rejected the bail petition of Tufan and his two other aides — Ali Azam of Chaksutrapur Khaipatti of the town and Rupom of Kalitala — when police produced them before the court with a seven-day remand prayer for each.
However, police did not seek remand for another arrestee Atikur Rahman as he gave confessional statement before the magistrate.
Also, District Sramik League has suspended Tufan, convener of Bogra town unit of the workers’ front of ruling Awami League amid widespread allegation over the rape.
Tufan abducted the female student from her home, raped her and then asked his party cadres and a woman councillor to make sure everything was hushed up, according to a report on the media.
“There are seven to eight injury marks on the victim’s body. She might have been struck with blunt object like an iron rod or stick. Her body has deep scars but she is now out of danger,” said Abdul Mottaleb, Head of Surgery Department of Bogra Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College.
A three-member probe body led by Additional Deputy Magistrate Abdus Samad Pradhan has been formed to investigate the incident, said Nure Alam Siddique, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Bogra.
