Banani Rape: Nayem makes confessional statement

Nayem Ashraf alias Halim yesterday confessed to raping one of the two victims of Banani rape and confining her to a room in The Raintree Dhaka hotel for an entire night.

One of the key accused in Banani double rape case, Nayem also confessed that his friend Shafat Ahmed, the prime accused, raped the other victim in an adjacent room of the hotel the same night, court sources said.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Satyabrata Shikder recorded Nayem's confessional statement at his chamber and sent him to jail afterwards.

The accused told the magistrate that he forced the girl to pop a birth control pill before raping her.

The three other accused in the case, the victims' friend Shadman Sakif, Shafat's driver Billal Hossain and bodyguard Rahmat Ali assisted in the rapes, Nayem said in his confession.

Nayem did not reveal much, but stressed that he was repentant, the sources added.

Ismot Ara Amy, the investigation officer in the case, produced Nayem, a friend of prime accused Shafat, before the court on completion of his seven-day remand.

Shafat, son of one of the owners of Apan Jewellers', earlier confessed to raping the other victim while Sakif and Billal confessed that they were involved in the acts.

One of the victims, lodged the case on May 6 alleging that she along with her friend was raped by Shafat and Nayem at the Raintree hotel, on the night of March 28 after Shafat's birthday party.

NHRC QUIZZED RAINTREE AUTHORITIES

The Raintree authorities yesterday claimed that many of their employees were resigning in fear of being ostracised in the society.

“The business is going to be ruined…,” Adnan Harun, managing director of the hotel, told reporters at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

He added that his family as well as the employees' families were humiliated everywhere. “We are being socially maligned… “

He also sought punishment of the culprits.

The NHRC fact finding committee, formed to look into the matter, summoned Adnan Harun and Raintree General manager Frank Forget along with the Deputy Commissioner (Gulshan) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Moshtak Ahmed and Officer-in-Charge of Banani Police Station B M Farman Ali.

But the police officers requested the NHRC to defer their hearings.

In another development, Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) in a press release said, Apan Jewelers must to give back around 3,422 gram of gold and a diamond nose-pin to its 182 customers.

After this, 497,808 grams of gold and 1590 pieces of diamond jewelry would be kept seized by the CIID.