Garo girl gang-rape in Dhaka: Police still examining CCTV footage

Police are yet to track down the criminals who gang-raped a Garo girl on a moving microbus in Dhaka last week.

Golam Mujtaba Dhrubabdnews24.com
Published : 25 May 2015, 03:13 PM
Updated : 25 May 2015, 03:19 PM

Bhatara police said it was scanning the CCTV footage to identify the assaulters.

Five youths forced the 21-year-old girl onto a microbus and took turns to rape her last Thursday night while she was waiting for a bus, in a chilling reminder of a fatal gang-rape of a student on a moving bus in India’s capital three years ago.

She is undergoing treatment at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital. Doctors say they have found evidence of rape and the girl is mentally devastated.

A case has been filed over the incident, coming close on the heels of police failure to arrest anyone in an incident of sexual harassment of women on the Dhaka University campus during the Pahela Baishakh celebrations.

Rights activists say official indifference and a culture of impunity were encouraging sex offenders.

Inspector Sajjad Hossain said they were banking on the CCTV footage to identity Thursday’s criminals.

“It takes time to identify criminals from video footage,” he told bdnews24.com.

The victim claimed a man, who visited her at her workplace in Jamuna Future Park last week, was among the assaulters.

She told police that she could recognise the other attackers as well.

Hossain said they had collected retrospective video footage spanning a week from the time of the incident.

He said they could not see the number plates of microbuses in other CCTV footages they had obtained.

“Also, we didn’t find anyone matching the victim’s description,” he added.

Detective Police’s Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam on Monday told reporters: “We primarily suspect the incident was pre-planned.”

Dhaka Metropolitan Police have formed a three-member committee to monitor the progress of the case.

On Monday, the High Court demanded explanation from police for the delay in processing the case.

It asked police to justify why the girl should not be paid compensation for the delay.

The victim said she would wage a legal battle to bring her assaulters to justice.

Meanwhile, the Garo Students’ Union said it would escort working women of their community to home in Dhaka during the Ramadan.