Chattogram gang uses Rohingya woman in filing ‘false’ cases, say police

A 28-year-old woman filed a rape case against two people, including a businessman, with the Doublemooring Police Station in Chattogram in May.

After an investigation, the police concluded that it was a false case designed to harass the businessman due to a rivalry. The woman had been pushed into filing the case.

Her name was recorded in the case details as Sharifa Begum but police identified her as a Rohingya refugee called Sufia Begum during the investigation.

Sufia alias Sharifa had previously married a Bangladeshi national and filed a case against him as well.

Sufia took these actions apparently for money and was instigated by a nexus of people engaged in illegal acts.

"Criminals have been harassing different people in Chattogram by filing cases against them. Now they are using the Rohingya women to file false cases against men by paying them money,” Doublemooring Police Station chief AKM Mohiuddin Selim told bdnews24.com.

They even secure reports from the One-Stop Crisis Centre or OCC in Chattogram Medical College Hospital before filing false cases, he said.

“I was suspicious when Sharifa Begum came to file the case along with another person. During the interrogation, she divulged her true identity as a Rohingya refugee,” said OC Selim.

The Rohingya woman confessed to her guilt in court and the police filed a final report designating the complaint as ‘false.’

As the case details go, two persons had ‘raped’ Sharifa near Dewanhat level crossing in Doublemooring on May 14. She took help from people on the street to contact her uncle and went to the OCC to receive medical treatment, according to the case.

Nurusafa Ferdous and his assistant Md Borhan from Char Patharghata in Karnaphuli Upazila were accused in the case.

Sharifa works at a garment factory in Chattogram and her husband has been ‘missing’ for over ten years since he “went to Malaysia”, according to case details. Nurusafa owns a brickfield and runs a business of supplying contract workers. He met Sharifa through this channel, the complainant claimed.

Sharifa claimed she had given Nurusafa Tk 40,000 so that he could help her go abroad. She was then taken to Dewanhat on May 14 where Nurusafa and Borhan raped her, according to the allegations laid out in the case.

It was later discovered that the case stemmed from Nurusafa’s feud with an individual named Hamid over the ownership of a store “Khaja Enterprise” near the Shah Amanat Bridge, said Inspector Zahir Hossain of the Doublemooring Police Station. Hamid sought help from a criminal group who engaged the Rohingya woman to file the case.

The woman had been identified as Sharifa Begum, the daughter of the late Lal Mohammed from Dailpara Chawkbazar in Teknaf, in the case.  But the police found that she was actually Sufia Begum, who lived with her mother in Kutupalong Rohingya Camp 4. Her refugee number is 18920180124093442.

Sufia came to Teknaf from Myanmar about 10 years ago, said Inspector Zahir. She stayed for some time in the house of one Lal Mohammed. She named him as her father in the case. Although the case indicated that he was dead, Lal Mohammed is still alive.

Sufia confessed to the court of Executive Magistrate Mehnaz Rahman on May 20 that she stayed in Teknaf for some time after she entered Bangladesh and later shifted to Chattogram. She rented a house in Baklia where she met Ismail Bhandari, who later became one of her handlers.

Sufia alias Sharifa worked at a garment factory in Tulatali where she married Gias Uddin. At the suggestion of Ismail, she filed a case against Gias under the Prevention of Oppression against Women and Children Act. She also confessed to filing a rape case against an individual named Sumon from Shikalbaha.

Sufia met Hamid, the business rival of Nurusafa. Instigated by Ismail and his accomplices, the woman filed a case against Nurusafa and his assistant Borhan, said police official Zahir, citing Sufia’s confession.

After meeting Hamid, Sufia alias Sharifa went back to Kutupalong, she said. Before the false case in May, she was brought to Chattogram. Ismal Bhandari and his associates kept her in Hamid’s house in Rahattar Pool for a week and gave her instructions.

Ismail, Hamid and some others took Sufia to the Tiger Pass intersection on May 14, according to her confession to the court. Later, they took her to Dewanhat level crossing where she had ‘physical relationship’ with an individual. Then they took her to Chattogram Medical College Hospital, where Sufia called her uncle ‘Kashem’. She got admitted to the OCC and took the report which she used in filing a case with the Doublemooring Police Station the next day.

“Sharifa introduced the man accompanying her as her uncle Kashem when she came to file the case but the man fled when Sharifa’s lie was uncovered,” said Inspector Zahir.

“According to Sharifa, the man was Sarwar, who had the physical relationship with her.”

 “We are looking for Sarwar and also submitted the final report to the court on Oct 23 saying the case has been proven to be false during the course of the investigation.”

Ismail and Sarwar are part of a gang who pay women to file ‘false cases of persecuting women’ to harass people, said the police official.

The Prevention of Oppression against Women and Children Act has a provision for cases against the plaintiffs and witnesses in a case found to be false, said Chattogram Women and Children Oppression Prevention Tribunal Public Prosecutor MA Naser. But it is necessary to have their address to file such cases.

“It is easy to use a Rohingyas plaintiff to file a false case to harass common people as they don’t have any permanent address.”