The body of Rupa, the law student who was gang-raped and murdered in a running bus in Tangail area, was handed over to her family for burial on Thursday.
The victim’s body was exhumed from the grave in presence of Assistant Commissioner (Land) of Tangail and Executive Magistrate Abdur Rahim in the afternoon. The whole process was done as per order issued by Tangail District Magistrate Khan Mohammad Nurul Amin, also the Deputy Commissioner of the district, after minimizing a disagreement between the judicial and executive branches.
Prior to that Tangail Judicial Magistrate refused to pass order to exhume the body saying that the matter was beyond his jurisdiction when the victim’s brother Hafizur Rahman Pramanik pleaded for the exhumation, defence lawyer and human rights activist Atoar Rahman Khan Azad said.
At first, Rupa was buried at Tangail central graveyard as an “unclaimed” just after the incident. Rupa, who also worked in a multinational company in Sherpur, went to Bogra on Friday to sit for a teachers’ registration examination.
Officer-in-Charge of Madhupur Police Station Shafiqul Islam said victim’s elder brother Hafizur Rahman submitted a prayer to bring his sister’s body to his village home Tarash upazila in Sirajganj district for burial.
Rupa, a resident of Sirajganj’s Tarash, was raped and killed on a moving Chhowa Paribahan bus on Friday night and her body was thrown out from the bus. Later, based
on information provided by a bus passenger, police recovered the body of Rupa Khatun Pramanik, 27, beside a highway in the Pachish Mile area.
Meanwhile, the police arrested five bus helpers on charges of killing and gang-raping the law student on a moving bus on August 25. They are Habib, 40, Gendu, 35, Shamim, 30, Akram, 30, and Jahangir, 20. All of the arrestees have given confessional statement confessing the guilt.
Police said the crimes took place in a bus of Chhowa Paribahan heading to Mymensingh from Bogra. Rupa boarded the bus from Bogra. All passengers of the bus got down at one point in the journey and helper Shamim took Rupa to the rear and tried to rape her. At one stage, to rescue herself from the criminals Rupa gave Shamim Tk 5,000 and her mobile phone to Shamim and pleaded to let her go.
According to their confessional statement, Shamim took the money and the phone and then raped her. Two other helpers Akram and Jahangir also raped her while Habib was driving and Gendu was sleeping.
When the bus reached near Madhupur, Rupa started screaming. The three bus helpers then broke her neck and threw the body out in a secluded area. The victim’s identity was revealed when her elder brother Hafizur Rahman Pramanik came to the police station on Monday night after seeing her picture in newspapers.
Meanwhile, incidents of rape and repression on women have increased in the country compared to the previous years at an alarming rate. As per a report prepared by Ain O Shalish Kendra, about 218 women were raped from January 1 to May 31 this year; of them 10 were instantly killed by the rapists. Besides, 36 others narrowly escaped from the brutality, and four of them had committed suicide.
Another study revealed by Bangladesh Mahila Parishad said a total of 499 women and baby girls were raped in the first six months of the current year. Of them 64 were the victims of gang rape.
There are several rape incidents where the victims did not get justice till the date as the criminals were too powerful. An example can be cited here where family of Comilla Victoria College student Sohagi Jahan Tonu,19, who was raped and murdered in Comilla Cantonment on 20 March 2016, is yet to get the justice.
Concerned circles said if proper punishment is not ensured for the culprits, the crime will increase in phases. Last year, around 1500 cases were reported in court against rapists but appropriate punishment for the accused was a few. In many cases, the rapists escape punishment due to corruption. On other hand, the rape victims are deprived of proper judgment because it is seen that most of the victims are from poor families who have no money power.
Not only that, the “powerful criminals” settle the cases in exchange of money The criminals also threat victim’s family members showing their muscle power. For these reasons, the victims’ families do not dare lodge complaints, according to sources.
