A schoolgirl was allegedly gang-raped at a Sal forest in Birganj upazila of Dinajpur on Saturday evening. Police arrested five people yesterday in this connection.

The arrestees are Rashidul Islam, 35, Abdul Mojid, 35, Mohammad Suman, 22, Md Sultan, 23, and Rubel Hembram, 22, all from different villages in the upazila.

A case was filed with Birganj Police Station by the girl's father on Sunday, accusing the five men of the rape. The girl identified the alleged rapists, said Akkas Ali, officer-in-charge of the station.

According to the case statement, Rashidul was acquainted with the girl. He and his friends picked her up from Kabirajhat area of the upazila on Saturday afternoon saying they would drop her home.

Instead, they took her to a Sal forest in the upazila by motorcycle and gang-raped her there. They fled the spot, leaving the girl in the forest, the OC said.

Upon hearing her cry for help, passersby rescued the girl and informed her parents about the incident, he added.

After the case was filed, the girl was sent to M Abdur Rahim Medical College Hospital in Dinajpur for medical tests.

8-YEAR-OLD GIRL RAPED

An eight-year-old child was allegedly raped by her private tutor at her home in Jahangirnagar area of Goabari in Sylhet Sadar upazila on April 2, reports our Sylhet correspondent.

Mosharraf Hossain, officer-in-charge of Airport Police Station said they arrested Mahin Miah, 20, of the same area, on Saturday night after a case was filed that evening accusing him of the rape.

Quoting the child's father, the OC said the girl is a student of class one in a local madrasa. She began taking private lessons from Mahin Mia on April 1.

The very next day, Mahin raped the child when he came to her house to give tuition. She later described the incident to her mother.

Her mother informed her father as soon as she learned of the incident. Her father was in Cumilla at the time. He returned to Sylhet on Friday and admitted the child to One-stop Crisis Centre (OCC) of Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, the OC said.

He added that the father filed a case, with the OCC report in hand, on Saturday evening. Police arrested Mahin from his house that night.