RAB says only two men raped the tribal woman on moving microbus

The two men arrested over the gang-rape of a woman on a microbus have said none except them was involved, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has said.

The statement is in sharp contrast to the victim who said five men took turns in raping her. 

'Ashraf' aka 'Tushar' and Jahidul Islam Lovlu told RAB the two of them set up communication with the saleswoman from Dhaka’s Jamuna Future Park. 
 
They lured her into the trap by promising her a job. 

The two men, who worked as drivers for a buying house in Gulshan, were arrested in Dhaka and Kuakata in Patuakhali and brought before the media on Wednesday. 

“Only two of them were in the vehicle, they told us during interrogation,” RAB spokesperson Mufti Mahmud Khan told reporters.    

Several officials of the elite force said they did not have any information that suggested there were others involved. 

The victim, a woman of the Garo tribe, told police five men raped her on the running microbus, mentioned Khan.    

When asked if they were able to find out how many committed the gang-rape, he said, “We can’t say now… without further investigation.”    

The victim said there were five men on the microbus, Inspector Sajjad Hossain of Vatara Police Station, where her family filed the case, told bdnews24.com. 

Police also suspected that Tushar was involved and were looking for him, said Hossain.

The victim, in her early twenties, worked as a salesperson at a clothing outlet in Jamuna Future Park.

She was dragged into a microbus on May 21 outside the shopping mall. The men inside took turns to rape her. The abuse had lasted for about 90 minutes before she was dumped off at Uttara.

Her family filed a case with Vatara Police Station the next day. Signs of forced intercourse were found when she was examined the day after. 

The case details said the victim mentioned that there were five men in the vehicle.

The incident has moved centre stage because of a current controversy over the sexual harassment of several women during the Bengali New Year celebrations at Dhaka University. 

The new incident has added fuel to a scathing criticism of law enforcers for failing to act against the harassers. 

Amidst the controversies, RAB arrested Lovlu from Gulshan-1 and ‘Tushar’ from Patuakhali’s Kuakata on Tuesday night. They also recovered the vehicle they used from Banani.  

Meanwhile, police have been blamed for negligence in registering the case, and rights groups have moved against police in the High Court. 

The court asked police to explain the delay in accepting the case and why it should not be asked to compensate the victim.

It has also asked them to explain why steps should not be taken against some of them for negligence.

RAB claimed Tushar, 35, studied until grade three in Barguna’s Chunakhali Government Primary School and came to Dhaka in 1999.

He worked on shipping trawlers for a while before learning how to drive. He drove taxis and later joined as a driver for a buying house in Gulshan. 

Lovlu, Tushar’s colleague at the buying house, studied until eighth grade at a madrasah in Jhalakathi. 

Five-days of planning

In the initial grilling, the duo told RAB that they had planned the rape five days earlier and struck up a relation with her for that. They had shared the plan with another of their driver colleague, ‘Firoz’.

The RAB spokesperson said the two had driven to the shopping mall on May 17 with two South African women. Tushar met the victim during the visit. He also got her phone number. 

“During a phone conversation the next day, he asked her about her current job, salary and other matters and said buying houses offered better salaries and benefits. He also asked the girl if she wanted to work at one such place. The girl told him she was interested.”

Tushar talked with her over phone for two more days, and, on May 20, asked her to prepare the papers needed for a job application, giving her details. He had, meanwhile, gathered information about where she lived and when she left for home from work.

“On the day of the crime, Tushar called up the girl around 9pm and told her they were near Jamuna Future Park and that she should meet them and hand over her papers.”

They were waiting for the victim with the microbus near a restaurant across the street in front of the mall, the RAB official added.  

After the girl arrived, Tushar dragged her onto the microbus and threatened to kill her if she did not cooperate. They raped her in turns and dumped her in Jashimuddin Road of Uttara around 10:30pm, he said.