Staff Reporter :
Two rape victim girls of a private university underwent medical test at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital on Sunday.
A girl student yesterday filed a case with Banani Police Station alleging that she and one of her friends were raped by two youths in a posh hotel in the capital’s Banani area over a month ago.
Talking to the reporters, the girl said that all this time they had kept mum because the accused were repeatedly threatening them and tracking their movements. However, they now want justice.
The girl alleged that Banani police have registered the case after a long delay. As she first went to the police station on Friday evening, officers refused to record the case. She could manage to lodge a written complaint on Saturday morning and it was filed as a case last night.
According to the complaint, five youths, including the two alleged rapists, were made accused in the case.
Around 10:30pm on Saturday, the girls were sent to the Victim Support Centre in Tejgaon, said SI Sohel Rana from Banani Police Station.
Talking to this reporter over the phone, the plaintiff said she and the other girl got acquainted with the two culprits through one of their friends early March.
Invited to a birthday party, she along with her friend went to the hotel around 8:30pm on March 28. “They (the two accused) confined us in two separate rooms at gunpoint after the rooftop party ended around midnight,” she said, adding that one of them raped her twice.
According to the allegation, the rapists are: Shafat Ahmed, son of Dildar Ahmed, owner of Apan Jewelers and Nayeem Ashraf, son of a powerful politician, confined the victims in two separate rooms of ‘The Hotel Raintree’ in the city’s Banani area and rapped.
The driver and bodyguard of the rapist were present in the room and the driver even filmed the incident, she alleged.
“My friend was raped in the other room by the other culprit,” she said, based on what the other university girl had told her.
The fifth accused is the person who introduced the girls to the alleged rapists. He had left the hotel soon after the party, she added.
The plaintiff alleged that police were dilly-dallying while filing the case because the accused were from rich families and that there could be an underhand dealing.
Contacted, Abdul Matin, Inspector (investigation) of Banani Police Station, refuted the allegation, saying they took time for primary investigation as the girls came to the police station more than a month after the incident.
When this correspondent visited the hotel, an official said there was a birthday party on the night of March 28 and two rooms were booked by the host and one of his friends for that day.
Around 9:00am the next day, the youths along with the two girls left the hotel, he added.
However, the plaintiff told this newspaper over the phone, “Both of us (the girls) were crying while leaving but no hotel official came to help us. We could not make any complaint as the rapists were with us.”
The hotel authorities said they don’t have any CCTV image of that day as they have the capacity to store footage of one month only.
However, Dr Sohel Mahmud, head of forensics at the hospital, who conducted the test of the victims, said, “The incident took place more than a month ago, so it is difficult to determine now.”
“We collected samples for three medical tests – DNA profiling, radiology and microbiology. The reports are likely to be ready within the next 20 days,” the doctor said.
Meanwhile, Dildar Ahmed, father of Safat Ahmed claimed to the reporters that the incident might be happened by mutual understanding. He also claimed that his divorced daughter-in-law might be involved with the latest development as part of her conspiracy against him and his family members to tarnish their social image.
