Mother gang-raped after son held hostage: Vandalism-fire at houses of 4 accused

Attack and vandalism have been carried out at the house of the main accused of the case filed on the allegation of gang-raping a mother after holding her ninth-grade student son hostage in Gafargaon of Mymensingh and later fire has been set at the houses of three more accused of the same case.

Attack-vandalism was carried out at the house of the main accused Sharif in Char Kalibari area under Char Algi union around 9:30am this Tuesday. Later fire was set at the houses of the accused of the same case Fahim, Rajib and Enamul around 6pm.

Officer-in-charge (OC) of Gafargaon police station Moniruzzaman Sheikh has confirmed the matter.

He said the area residents went to the house of Sharif in the morning and broke the tin fence and roof of the residential house. However the members of Sharif’s family moved to a safe place before the attack.

In the evening the locals set fire at the houses of the FIR-listed accused Fahim and Rajib of Char Kalibari area and Enamul of Akandpara area.

The OC informed that four rooms have been burnt in the fire, however no news of any casualty has been found in this incident. Later the police brought the fire under control with the cooperation of the locals. Additional police has been deployed in the area to control the situation and the law and order situation is currently normal, he informed.

The OC said, ‘A request has been made to the area residents to give information to the police regarding the location of the other accused instead of taking the law into their own hands.’

It has been said in the FIR of the case that five youths entered the house of that 38-year-old woman around 8pm last Thursday in the name of asking for water. After that they held that woman and her son hostage by showing weapons, looted cash of Tk 5 lakh, gold ornaments and other valuable items and gang-raped that woman. It has also been mentioned in the FIR that they recorded the video of the incident at this time. Later the surrounding people went to the spot after hearing their screams and informed the police.

The next day that woman filed a case at Gafargaon police station as the complainant. The names of Sharif, 23, Arif, 21, Fahim, 22, Rajib, 23, and Enamul, 22, have been mentioned in the case.

After the case the locals held a human chain in front of Gafargaon Press Club in the afternoon on Saturday and demanded the arrest and punishment of the accused.

The victim family alleged that later the accused demanded another two lakh taka from them and threatened to spread the video of the incident on social media if the matter was informed to anyone.

The OC informed that Rajib has been arrested in this incident and sent to jail through the court. He informed that the drive is continuing to arrest the other accused.