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The PBI got the case after police failed to identify any suspect
Published : 22 Apr 2024, 07:45 PM
After seven years of dead ends, the Police Bureau of Investigation or PBI has made a breakthrough in the chilling case of an 8-year-old girl's gang-rape and murder in Sirajganj’s Chauhali Upazila, arresting two suspects linked to the horrifying crime.
The suspects, identified as 20-year-old Sabbir Hossain, a cousin of the victim Suborna Khatun, and 21-year-old Shakib Khan, whose father serves on the local union council, were arrested on charges of their alleged involvement in the brutal incident that has haunted the community since 2017.
Another suspect, Milon Pasha, son of another union council member whose age was not available, had been released on bail after his arrest six months ago.
The case, which had gone cold after initial investigations by local police failed to yield any suspects, was reignited when the court demanded a fresh probe by the PBI following the family's rejection of the initial report. This led to a detailed re-investigation, culminating in the recent arrests made on April 19.
The PBI was trying to arrest five other suspects, said Rezaul Karim, superintendent of police at the PBI’s Sirajganj unit.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Rezaul said the suspects planned to rape Suborna when the girl went to Dattakandi High School to visit an Indpendence Day fair on Mar 26, 2017.
Following the plan, Sabbir and Shakib took the girl to Madhyashimulia Char, a river island, in the evening. Six others were waiting there.
They raped the girl in a crop field, Rezaul said.
At one stage of excessive bleeding, the girl fainted. She also threatened to tell others about the incident. The suspects then strangled her to death, the PBI officer said.
Police recovered the body the next day and submitted an investigation report without identifying any suspects.
As the family refused the report, the court ordered a re-investigation by the PBI.
The PBI then arrested Sabbir in Dhaka and Shakib in Sirajganj on Apr 19.
Both suspects admitted to their parts in the crime in statements given to a court, said Rezaul.
