Abducted schoolgirl ‘raped’, left unconscious in Gaibandha bushes

She was picked up while on her way to school, police say citing her family

A sixth-grade student was abducted on her way to school and “raped” throughout the day before being abandoned in a bush in Gaibandha's Gobindaganj Upazila, her family has alleged.

The child was rescued in an unconscious state from a thicket near a sugar mill in Phulbari Union on Monday afternoon, said Gobindaganj Police chief Mohammad Mozammel Haque, citing the family.

The victim is currently undergoing treatment at a Bogura hospital in a serious condition.

Her family said the girl left home to go to school on Monday morning and did not return even though her classes ended at 3pm.

They immediately started searching for her, whose classmates revealed that she did not attend the classes, according to police.

Her mother said: “Two unidentified men forced my daughter into an auto-rickshaw on the Dhaka-Rangpur Highway around 10am.

“They took her to an undisclosed location and violated her after applying sedatives. She instantly lost consciousness and couldn't say anything else,” she alleged.

Passersby discovered the girl lying in the bushes around 5pm and alerted her relatives, who took her to the Upazila Health Complex.

Fahad Al Asad, a medical officer at the Upazila clinic, said the girl was brought in at 6pm. “As her condition began to deteriorate, we referred her to Bogura for advanced medical care,” he said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, no written complaint was filed, said the police officer.

However, a manhunt is under way for the suspects, Mozammel said.