Three Bagerhat youths charged with rape

Four days after the arrest of three youths on charge of raping a schoolgirl and spreading the video footage via mobile phone at Alukdia village of Sadar upazila, police yesterday filed a case against the trio and some other unidentified people.

A police team conducted a drive and arrested the trio from the village on Saturday evening after receiving information that some youths were showing the video footage of a rape incident on mobile phones in front of the house of Shariful Sheikh at the village, said Ramesh Chandra Sen, sub-inspector (SI) of Bagerhat Model Police Station.

Police also seized the mobile phone where the video footage was stored, the SI added.

The arrestees are Shariful Sheikh, 18, Anwar Sheikh alias Ano, 18, and Sohag Sheikh, 19, all hailing from the village.

SI Ramesh said the three forcibly took the schoolgirl, a Class VII student of Alukdia village, to a grove in the village and raped her on March 17. They also videoed the rape scene with a mobile camera and later showed the video footage to others, the SI added.

Md Mizanur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Bagerhat Model Police Station, said police contacted the family members of the victim following the arrest of the three youths, but no one from the family has lodged any complaint in this connection.

On Sunday, the youths were shown arrested under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court.

Police yesterday filed a case against the trio and some other unidentified persons under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000 and the Information and Communication Technology (Amendment) Act 2013.

Away in Mymensingh, a man was arrested from Krishtapur area of Mymensingh town early yesterday on charge of raping a seven-year old girl, reports our correspondent.

The arrestee is Sumon Bhandari, 35, of the town's Krishtapur area, said Md Kamrul Islam, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station.

Sumon raped the girl, daughter of a day labourer, at Krishtapur Malancha Colony area on Tuesday morning, the OC said, adding that she is now undergoing treatment at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital. Police later produced Sumon before a Mymensingh court that sent him to jail.