Five suspects ‘confess to raping’ woman on bus in Gazipur

Tests initially find evidence that the woman was raped

Five men suspected of raping a woman on a bus in Gazipur have ‘confessed’ to their parts in the crime

The Chief Metropolitan Magistrates Court of Gazipur on Sunday recorded their confessional statements, which can be used as evidence in the trial.

Doctors initially found evidence that the woman was raped. They sent her samples to a hospital in Dhaka for further confirmation, said Dr ANM Al Mamun of Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital.

Dr Mamun said they have recommended an X-ray test for the woman as her forehead had injury marks.

A magistrate also recorded the statement of the victim on Sunday.

The suspects are Md Shojib, 23, Md Shahin Mia, 19, Rakib Mollah, Md Sumon Hassan, 22, and Sumon Khan, 20. They were sent to jail after the court recorded their statements, said Gazipur Superintendent of Police SM Shafiullah.

The woman boarded a bus of Takwa Paribahan with her husband at Bhogra Bypass intersection after getting off of another bus around 3:30am on Saturday, Additional Superintendent of Police Sanwar Hossain said, citing the case documents.

The bus driver, his assistant and others beat the woman’s husband and threw him out of the vehicle before it reached Mawna Flyover in Sreepur. The men on the bus raped the woman afterwards, and took away all her money, Sanwar said.

The suspects dropped the woman near Rajendrapur and fled with the bus, the officer said, adding that the victim contacted police shortly after the incident.

The woman is a homemaker and her husband is a garment factory worker. The couple are residents of Mymensing’s Bhaluka.

“Multiple teams of the district police conducted raids and arrested the five suspects within eight hours of the incident,” Sanwar said.

Police also seized the Taqwa Paribahan bus and recovered stolen objects from the suspects.