The rape of a five-year-old girl in Sabujbagh area of the capital in 2011 had caused a stir across the country. How is that little girl doing now? Investigation has found that she lost the power to speak after that brutal incident. And while the speech-impaired girl is now leading a nightmarish life back in the country, rapist Nazmus Saquib is living a lavish life in the USA.
The victim has not yet got justice though she had taken recourse to law after the brutality on her.
According to the investigation, the child used to live with her family in a shanty at 28 Mayakanan of Sabujbagh. Her father used to run a CNG-run auto-rickshaw to earn a living.
On the fateful day in 2011, Nazmus Saquib, a drug addict, lured the little girl into going to his residence at 28 Mayakanan after offering her chocolates. Then he took her to the rooftop of the building and raped her several times.
At one stage, he left the child in the garage on the ground floor when she was bleeding profusely. Then Bachchu Mia, the caretaker of the house, came forward after hearing the child's screaming. Seeing the pathetic condition of the child, locals gathered around the house and the victim narrated the brutality that she endured.
After the incident, Nazmus Saquib's father Jalilul Azam along with the child's father first took her to Mugda General Hospital from where she was later transferred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (MDCH) as her condition deteriorated.
After 28 days of treatment at the DMCH, the child could survive but the trauma affected her speech and she became speech-impaired. The child lost the power to speak due to rape, and excessive stress and blood loss, according to the medical report.
But the child’s father wanted justice rather than money. He filed a rape case against Nazmus Saquib with Sabujbagh Police Station defying the frowning of his influential father and uncle.
The rapist had been on the run for some time after the filing of the case. At one stage, he left the country and is now leading a lavish life in the United States of America (USA). Sitting there, he has continuously been spreading various lies against esteemed personalities of Bangladesh through his so-called IP television channel. He introduces himself as the editor of Nagorik TV.
It was found that the child's family is not living in that house at Mayakanan any longer. The family left the area three years after the rape incident as they could not bear the social stigma.
Mobashwer Hossain, a local resident, said, ‘The child’s family eventually left the area fearing repercussion.
The family with two daughters and a son now lives in a tin-shed house of Amir Uddin in a lane behind the Rampura TV Centre. The father of the victim did not want to talk at first after the reporter identified him as a journalist but later started crying.
Pointing to the girl sitting in the next room, he said, “Rapist Nazmus Saquib had robbed my family of happiness. My healthy daughter couldn’t bear the trauma of rape and lost the power to speak after that incident. She now can’t speak. After a month of treatment, she survived. My heart aches after seeing the sufferings of my daughter. Nazmus Saquib had ruined my daughter's life.”
Nazmus Saquib, who is used to perverted sex, also raped his cousin Kazi Rubaiya. When Rubaiya became pregnant following the rape, Nazmus Saquib married her under family pressure.
Besides, there were several other allegations of sexual abuse against Nazmus Saquib in the area, including one involving his grandmother.
Khilgaon, Sabujbagh and Motijheel police stations have multiple cases and general diaries lodged against him.
Nazmus Saquib and his cohorts also gang-raped the wife of Rezaul Karim of Daudkandi in Cumilla, who was a tenant of Nazmus Saquib. The couple left the area after the incident in 2010.
Fearing repercussion, they filed no case against the rapists. They left home silently at that time. The victim’s husband now lives in Pirerbagh area of Mirpur.
He said, “Nazmus Saquib is now settled in the USA and runs so-called TV shows on YouTube. I don’t want to remember that day anymore. My wife tries to commit suicide when the incident of sexual abuse haunts her. We’re somehow living with the trauma being our constant companion.”
