Four arrested over assault on Noakhali woman
The victim’s father said he was unable to summon up the courage to come forward after the incident since the culprits are influential
Law enforcement officials arrested four suspects over the assault on a woman in Noakhali's Begumganj and subsequent release of the video on social media.
The Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested the main accused Delwar and Badal from Narayanganj and Dhaka respectively on Monday. In the meantime, Noakhali police arrested another two accused, Abdur Rahim and Abdur Rahman.
The victim, a 35-year-old housewife, filed two cases on Sunday night – one against nine individuals and another against seven to eight 7-8 nnamed people. The cases are under the Women and Child Repression Act and Digital Security Act.
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Th others accused in the cases are – Abul Kalam, Israfil Hosen, Saju, Samsuddin aka Sumon, Abdur Rab aka Chowdhury Mia and Arif.
Locals and the police said the victim had been staying at her father's home in Joykrishnapur village for several months after a dispute with her husband.
The incident happened on September 2 during the woman's visit to her husband.
According to the case statement, the accused entered the house and beat up her husband that night. They took him to the adjacent room and tied him up.
They then tortured the victim and assaulted her after stripping her naked. They filmed the incident on their mobile phones.
At one point, locals gathered around the house hearing the victim's cries for help. After threatening to kill her if she spoke about the incident, the accused left.
According to the case statement, the accused ostracized the victim and her family for days and later forced them to leave the village. The victim, fearing for her life, fled from her home and has been living elsewhere since that time.
The alleged perpetrators however, contacted her on the phone and threatened to release the recorded video of the incident on social media if she did not return to her home and agree to their proposals.
"As I did not agree to their immoral proposals, they released the video on social media on October 4," the housewife said in the statement.
The video went viral and sparked public outrage on social media. Subsequently, police located her and took her into safe custody.
Father of the victim said he was unable to summon up the courage to come forward as the perpetrators are influential. He now seeks justice for his daughter.
