Police have pressed formal charges against eight suspects in connection with the gang-rape of a newly-wed woman in Sylhet’s MC College, an incident that sparked outrage and led to protests nationwide.
The case’s investigation officer Inspector Indranil Bhattacharya filed the chargesheet with the court of Sylhet’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Abul Kashem on Thursday just over two months after the unsavoury incident was reported, according to court police’s ACP Khokon Chandra Sarkar.
Bangladesh Chhatra League activist Saifur Rahman has been named as the main suspect in the case. Six of the accused were directly involved in the rape while the rest were charged as accessories to the crime, the indictment said.
The other alleged perpetrators are Shah Mahbubur Rahman Rony, Tarekul Islam Tarek, Arjun Laskar, Ainuddin alias Ainul and Misbaul Islam Rajon Mia.
All of them have ties to BCL and are currently behind bars. DNA samples of the accused also matched that of the victim, according to the authorities.
The incident took place after the couple went to visit the college at Tilagarh on the night of Sept 25.
Several perpetrators dragged her into the residential hall premises and raped her when her husband went outside for a smoke, according to the police.
The culprits also beat the man up when he confronted them.
The following day, the victim’s husband started a case with Shahparan police against nine people, naming Saifur as the prime suspect.
Police raided the hall of residence following the incident and seized a gun, four machetes, a knife and two makeshift arms from Saifur’s room and arrested eight people over the matter.
Source: bdnews24.com
