Police tell HC mentally challenged teen was 'molested, 'not raped'

Police have submitted an investigation report to the High Court, saying a mentally challenged teenage girl was 'not raped, but her modesty was outraged' in Comilla's Bangra.

Bangra Police Station OC Moazzem Hossain submitted the report in the form of an affidavit to the Attorney General's Office on Thursday.

The report will be presented to the court on Sunday as judicial activities at both the High Court Division and Appellate Division of the Supreme Court were closed after 11am following the death of Justice MM Ruhul Amin, said Deputy Attorney General Motahar Hossain Saju.

Police have recorded the complaint over the incident as an FIR (First Information Report) and four of the five accused, including prime suspect Nazrul Islam, have been arrested, Saju said, citing the report.

"It has been said that the teenaged girl was not rape, but it was a violation of her modesty. And her brother was beaten up," the deputy attorney general said.

The report also includes the statements of the victims and 'others', he added.

The High Court on Jan 9 ordered police to record the complaint filed by the victims' family over the 'hacking of the brother' as an FIR within 48 hours and arrest the accused persons immediately.

The court issued the order when a lawyer drew its attention to a report - 'Comilla's Bangra: Sister Raped, Brother Hacked, Arbitration at Police Station'- published in a national daily on Jan 7.

The court, in a suo moto rule, asked the authorities why the move to arbitrate a non-arbitrable incident would not be illegal.

It also ordered the OC to submit a report after investigating the incident.

Police arrested Nazrul, his father Abdul Kuddus, sister Rozina Akter and sister-in-law Amena Begum on the day after the order.

After the arrests were made, Bangra Police Station Inspector Sadequr Rahman told reporters that Nazrul 'molested' a mentally challenged teenage girl at a brick-kiln on Dec 23.

The girl's brother was hacked and injured when he protested against the incident, the inspector added.

The High Court is scheduled to issue the next order on the case on Jan 22.