‘Murdered’ Girl Found Alive: Accused alleges brutal torture in police custody

An accused in a case who confessed of raping and killing a class-V female student, who was later found alive in Narayanganj, alleged that police brutally tortured him into confessing.

"Police beat me continuously after hanging me upside down. At one point, my condition was so critical that I was finding it difficult to breathe," said Khalilur Rahman, an accused in the case.

"But they did not stop. They intimidated me saying that they would keep beating me until my death if I don't give a confessional statement," he said.

Khalilur, a boatman in profession, was talking to The Daily Star at his home in Chhak area under Bandar upazila of Narayanganj yesterday.

"I was compelled to give a confessional statement to save my life," he said.

"They [police] asked me to give a confessional statement before the court, assuring me that they would arrange my bail within a month if I follow their directives," said Khalilur.

His wife Sharmin Akhter said her husband has become traumatised. He repeatedly wakes up from sleep due to nightmares caused by police torture.

Khalilur now wants his acquittal from the case and claimed himself to be an innocent man.

He said police picked him up from no. 5 Ghat area along with five other boatmen and took them to Narayanganj Sadar Police Station on a Friday evening about a month ago.

"After taking us to the police station, they took me to a separate room where Abdullah [another accused in the case] was also kept.

Khalilur also claimed that police earlier tortured Abdullah into framing him in the case.

"Then, Shamim sir [a policeman] showed me a photo of a girl and asked me to tell them where we had buried her body. But I said I knew nothing," he added.

A class-five girl student went missing on July 4. Her father filed a case with Narayanganj Sadar Model Police Station on August 6 over the abduction of his daughter.

Later, police arrested three people -- Md Abdullah, 22, Md Rakib, 19, and Khalilur Rahman, 36.

On August 9, the accused testified under Section 164 in separate courts of Narayanganj Senior Judicial Magistrate and Judicial Magistrate. In their confessional statement, they said that they had killed the girl after raping her and threw her body in the Shitalakkhya river, said police.

After their confessional statement, they were sent to jail.

On August 24, a police team, however, found the girl alive in Kushiara area of Narayanganj's Bandar upazila, 49 days after she had gone missing.

Later, the girl and her family members said she had no links with the three accused. Rather, she had eloped with one of her friends named Iqbal.

On August 25, the three accused filed bail petitions with a court in Narayanganj. During a hearing on their bail petitions on August 31, they appealed the court to withdraw their previous confessional statements.

Later on September 2, Khalilur was released on bail, while hearing on the bail petitions of two other accused will be held on September 7.