Police have arrested five persons in a case filed over the gang rape of a woman who came here from Jashore to meet her children.
HM Azimul Haque, deputy commissioner of Police, Tejgaon Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), provided the information at a press conference at his office on Sunday.
Police arrested the six youths in separate raids on Gabtoli, Mohammadpur and Demra in Dhaka and Bhola.
The arrestees have confessed to committing the crime, the police officer said.
The woman came to Dhaka on January 25 to meet her children staying with her ex-husband. Finding none in their old house, she began searching for her children. Around 9:30pm, she got on the rickshaw of Shafiqul to go to Gabtoli from Bosila. Instead of taking her to her destination, the rickshaw-puller kept going in various directions, assuring her of finding her husband.
Shafiqul was talking to different people over phone. Later at around 12:30am, the rickshaw-puller took her to a place in Bosila Future Town.
There, the rickshaw-puller along with his companions intimidated the woman and took her to a temporary tin house made for the workers. Five people raped her by threatening to kill her, the DC added.
Hearing her screams, local people rescued her from the building, but the perpetrators managed to flee.
The rescuers took the woman to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment.
After reporting to Mohammadpur police station, the victim was taken in custody. Later, she was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment.
Apart from rickshaw-puller Shafiqul, other arrestees were fast food shop staff and a truck driver.
All five arrestees went into hiding after they realised police were working to arrest them, the police officer said.
“We’ve collected the CCTV footage and took information from locals before we arrested them in different locations. They confessed that they were involved in the gang rape,” he added.
The police are working to arrest two more people who assisted the five rapists, said Azimul Haque.
At first, police arrested Shaheen Khan, 19, in connection with the gang rape, said the deputy commissioner.
According to police, the rapists took away the victim’s mobile phone. Shaheen took away the phone in Bosila and began to use it.
