Dr Md Khalil Ullah, the superintendent of Noakhali General Hospital, gave the confirmation to our local correspondent this afternoon.
“The test report will be handed over to police today,” he said.
The woman who is a mother of four, was gang raped allegedly by 10-12 ruling party Awami League men on the midnight of election day.
News of her rape has rocked Bangladesh, sparking protests in Dhaka and elsewhere and drawn condemnations all over the social media.
RUHUL AMIN ARRESTED
Since the incident four days ago, five people have been arrested so far including the key accused and “the man who ordered the rape” Ruhul Amin.
In the early hours today, police in separate drives arrested two people including a local Awami League leader from Shenbagh and Sadarupazilas of Noakhali.
The arrestees are Ruhul Amin, former member of Charjubli union parishad and also publicity affairs secretary of Subarnachar unit of Awami League, and Ibrahim Khalil Bechu, said Nizam Uddin, officer-in-charge of Char Jabbar Police Station.
OC Nizam said, “We made the arrest as we found Ruhul’s involvement with the rape incident though his name was not included in the case”.
Law enforcers arrest Ruhul Amin, publicity affairs secretary of Subarnachar unit of Awami League, and Ibrahim Khalil Bechu in connection with a rape incident in Noakhali on Thursday, January 3, 2019. Photo grabbed from a video footage.
Earlier, police arrested Badsha Alam from Charbajuli on Tuesday while prime accused Sohel from Cumilla district and Md Swapan from Ramgati upazila yesterday.
WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT DAY?
The 35-year-old woman said some 10-12 men carrying sticks entered her home by cutting the surrounding fence after the midnight on December 31. They tied her CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver husband and four children with ropes.
“They took me outside and raped me,” she said adding that the rapists threatened to kill her husband and children and torch their house if she told anyone about the rape.
The victim's husband, who was also injured, said the criminals left around 4:00am after beating his wife unconscious and taking Tk 40,000, some gold ornaments and other valuables with them.
Soon after the alleged rapists left, the victim's husband and children cried for help. At this, the neighbours came and rescued them.”
“At first, a village doctor was called. But as she [the victim] was still bleeding, she was taken to Noakhali General Hospital at noon,” said one of the neighbours, wishing anonymity.
Shyamol Kumar Devnath, of the emergency department at the hospital, said they found evidence of rape. There were also injury marks on different parts of the body, he said.
The husband said the victim went to cast her vote at Char Jubilee-14 Government Primary School centre around 11:00am on Sunday. She took the ballot paper from the assistant presiding officer and went to a booth.
During that time, Ruhul, an Awami League man, allegedly insisted her to vote for the “boat”. He allegedly tried to snatch the ballot paper as she said she would vote for the “sheaf of paddy”. But the victim put the paper inside the box.
This made Ruhul furious and he threatened her, he said.
WHAT DID THE VICTIM SAY ABOUT REASON BEHIND THE INCIDENT?
The 35-year-old woman, who was being treated at Noakhali General Hospital with severe injuries, claimed that she was raped for voting for “sheaf of paddy”, the electoral symbol of the BNP, during Sunday's national polls.
The woman alleged the rapists were accomplices of Ruhul Amin. “They had repeatedly insisted that I should vote for boat [the AL's symbol] but I cast my ballot for 'sheaf of paddy',” she said.
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There is currently a huge Awami League-shaped hole in Bangladesh's electoral politics, so BNP trying to dive headlong into it comes as no surprise. Since Sheikh Hasina's fall on August 5, BNP has had to navigate a delicate tightrope—balancing its ambition to return to power with the pressure to support popular demands for state reforms. The party doesn't want to risk the ire of the very students that ousted its arch-rival, potentially putting it in pole position to win the next election. But reforms take time, something it doesn't have plenty of after nearly two decades of wait. And the grassroots are getting impatient.
"Impatient" is perhaps an understatement for what has unfolded over the past month and a half. A more fitting description would be a chaotic transformation of a party getting used to having things its way. As BNP-affiliated leaders, activists, and professional groups scramble to fill the void left by Awami League, we are getting an early preview of the making of another regime—and it's nothing short of disturbing.
For example, since August 5, at least 14 BNP members have lost their lives, eight of them in factional clashes. The most recent murder occurred on Friday in Chattogram's Changaon area, where a Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal activist was fatally stabbed during a clash between rival factions. On the same day, heavy clashes between two BNP-linked groups in Chandpur left at least 30 people injured. On Sunday, a similar clash in Narayanganj left at least 12 injured, followed by another in Kushtia two days later, injuring 10 more. These violent power struggles, often revolving around the control of extortion rackets, have become disturbingly common. In that, the BNP grassroots seem to be re-enacting scenes from Awami League's time in power which, too, was plagued by factional infighting, with over 150 of its leaders and activists killed in mostly turf wars since the 2018 election.
Over the past weeks, reports have also emerged of BNP leaders and activists taking over slums, footpaths, transport hubs, extortion rackets across various markets and informal businesses, and even former Awami League offices. Meanwhile, in the civil service, there have been allegations against BNP-affiliated groups trying to influence promotions, placements, public contracts, etc.
Officially, the party is against such practices. Tarique Rahman, the acting chairman, recently warned that BNP will not tolerate any reckless actions by "misguided" individuals that could harm "the trust and love" it has earned through "years of struggle, sacrifice, and perseverance." He urged party members to "identify and resist" those tarnishing BNP's image, emphasising its commitment to not only expelling such individuals but also taking "legal action" against them.
These warnings coupled with occasional disciplinary measures, however, have proven insufficient to deter errant party supporters, which suggests two things: either those were not strict or convincing enough, or the party is not trying hard enough. Both scenarios are likely in an environment of patronage politics that has long been the mainstay of our political culture. This system of patronage begins at grassroots with the capture of extortion rackets or other undue benefits by political thugs, and culminates with systemic regulatory capture by vested interest groups, all of which serves as an incentive for them to keep working for a party. Barring exceptions, the prospect or promise of mutual gain largely governs the relationship between major parties and their supporters.
BNP, for all its pro-reform posturing in the aid of the interim government, has yet to demonstrate a real willingness to dismantle this corrupt system. While, to be fair, it has shown some signs of remaking itself as a party with a more open political ethos, the revolutionary times that we are living through demand much more.
Ironically, Awami League's ouster through a bloody uprising has stripped BNP of two key advantages that it could have used in an election campaign: anti-incumbency bias, and public sympathy for the repression it had endured. In an alternate reality where those factors still mattered, BNP could have expected Gen Z—with no lived memory of its 2001-06 rule—to support it unquestioningly, and older generations to accept it as the lesser of two evils. The problem is, the new generation has shown a political maturity beyond their years, and to win them over, BNP now must offer something genuinely new.
Ironically, Awami League's ouster through a bloody uprising has stripped BNP of two key advantages that it could have used in an election campaign: anti-incumbency bias, and public sympathy for the repression it had endured. In an alternate reality where those factors still mattered, BNP could have expected Gen Z—with no lived memory of its 2001-06 rule—to support it unquestioningly, and older generations to accept it as the lesser of two evils. The problem is, the new generation has shown a political maturity beyond their years, and to win them over, BNP now must offer something genuinely new.
So far, it has been giving mixed signals. On the one hand, it acknowledged that repeating Awami League's mistakes could lead to the same fate for itself, stressing the importance of understanding the shift in people's mind-sets. On the other hand, it continues to call for elections as soon as possible. Its rhetoric surrounding the student-led mass movement, trying to co-opt it as its own, and its suggestion that long-term reforms should be left to an elected government also reveal glaring contradictions. Perhaps the army chief's recent statement—in which he vowed to back the interim government "come what may" to possibly ensure elections within the next 18 months—will prompt BNP to reassess its approach. While expecting an election roadmap is not unreasonable, it must lift its sights beyond its ambition and bring the reform drive to its own doorsteps.
At 46, BNP is in need of renewal, and the sooner it realises this, the better. As the largest party in the country now, it has a responsibility not just to its leaders and activists but to the entire political landscape. To truly demonstrate that it remains in tune with the spirit of the mass uprising, BNP needs to lead by example and undertake the following initiatives.
First, it must help dismantle the patronage system by making it clear to party leaders and supporters that BNP politics will henceforth offer no undeserved benefits, and anyone using its name for such purposes will be met with swift punishment. Second, it should ask its loyalist groups within the civil service to stop influencing decisions, or risk being blacklisted. Third, it should establish a democratic, secular, and gender-inclusive party structure, and have a high-powered committee constantly check erosion of these values in party activities. Fourth, it should bring clarity on its finances by making the names of its donors public and conducting internal audits of assets held by party leaders. Fifth, it should control its grassroots leaders and activists, preventing infighting and any criminality through strict enforcement of disciplinary measures.
Sixth, it should comply with the Representation of the People Order (RPO) clause that prohibits political parties from having affiliated student or teacher organisations. Over the years, political parties, including BNP, have bypassed this law on mere technicalities, passing their student wings off as "brotherly" or "associate" organisations, thus enabling crimes and hegemonic practices that led not only to a deep distrust of student politics but also unimaginable sufferings.
There can be many other reforms that are necessary. What BNP can do to remake itself in line with the spirit of the mass uprising can be the topic of a discussion that the party should itself encourage for its own benefit.
Just before the January 7, 2024 election, I wrote an article titled "Can BNP survive the pre-election meltdown?" amid heavy crackdowns by Awami League. I guess the question now is, can BNP fulfil the post-uprising expectations? After all, if political parties do not break free from their long-entrenched monopolistic and authoritarian attitudes, changing the constitution and implementing other state reforms cannot prevent future regimes from turning dictatorial again. BNP has a historic responsibility in this regard.
Badiuzzaman Bay is an assistant editor at The Daily Star.
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
A case was filed against four unidentified men yesterday for allegedly gang-raping a 20-year-old ready-made garment worker in Chattogram’s Anwara upazila on Wednesday night.
According to the case statement, the victim was returning home from her workplace around 9:00pm with a CNG-run auto-rickshaw that already had three men in it.
The men in the auto-rickshaw abducted the girl and took her to an isolated place near Boiragi union’s China Road. Two of the men then gang-raped her.
Later, they took the girl in the auto-rickshaw and dumped her beside Chattogram-Anwara road. The criminals also called the victim’s family members and informed them about the incident, the case statement added.
The victim was rescued by her family members and rushed to Karnaphuli Upazila Health Complex. She was later shifted to
Chattogram Medical College and Hospital.
Dulal Mahmud, officer-in-charge of Anwara Police Station, said a case was filed with his police station at noon in this connection.
Police are trying to identify and arrest the culprits, he added.
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Condition of the sixth grader gangraped in Bhola on August 11 has slightly improved as the bleeding stopped yesterday.
But she is still in pain and is given pain killers, said Bilkis Begum, coordina-tor of One Stop Crisis Centre at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Meanwhile, her brother told The Daily Star yesterday that his family was feeling insecure and threatened because the brother of an accused rapist told people that he would take revenge for his brother’s death in a “shootout”.
“A brother of [rape accused] Manjur told people that his brother was killed because of us. So, they will take revenge one day. We are feeling in-secure,” he said.
He added that rape accused Al Amin and Manjur Alam, who were killed in a “shootout” with officers on Wednesday, had links with many powerful people in the area.
Police also said the two had been accused earlier of drug dealing.
The 12-year-old girl was brought to the DMCH early Thursday after doc-tors at multiple hospitals in Bhola and Barishal failed to stop the bleeding from her private parts. Doctors said she needed 22 stitches for wounds to her private parts and there were numerous cuts in her toes and back.
The girl of Bhola town was raped at her neighbour and aunt’s house when she went there to have mehendi on her arms on the eve of Eid. As she was waiting at the veranda of the house for her aunt, Al Amin, 27, a ten-ant of the building, gagged her with a strip of cloth and forced her into his room, police said.
Amin and his associate Manjur Alam, 25, then tied her up and raped her, they added.
Another young man named Jamal Akand has been accused of assisting the duo in the crime, said Sagir Mia, officer-in-charge of Bhola Sadar Police Station.
Her father filed a case accusing the trio. Jamal was sent to jail.
Non-profit Coast Trust has been assisting the girl’s family in bearing the treatment and legal costs.
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The former Awami League-led government had a longstanding tradition of involving artistes and celebrities in their election campaigns. Recently, popular actor Irfan Sajjad, who previously voiced support for anti-discrimination student movement, shared an incident on his Facebook profile related to this practice.
In his post, Irfan revealed, "During the previous election, I was offered a substantial sum to join their campaign. However, I politely declined, making it clear that I wouldn't align myself with any political party. In my view, none of the parties are deserving of my endorsement."
He continued, "I believe that actors, singers, directors, and all artistes are created by the people, for the people. It deeply saddens me to acknowledge that those artistes who supported atrocities while innocent lives were being lost have failed—not just as artistes, but as human beings. You may have seniority over us in the industry, but when it comes to humanity, you're far behind."
He went on to say, "I denounce you. I may not know who else was involved or supported these atrocities, but they share the same guilt. No matter how much you try to redeem yourselves now, it won't change anything."
Yesterday, a private WhatsApp group titled "Alo Ashbei" was exposed, revealing conversations where several prominent figures in the entertainment industry were found openly criticising the student movement. These revelations are what Irfan Sajjad referred to in his recent post.
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Officer-in-Charge of Pabna Sadar Police Station Obaidul Huq, who allegedly arranged the marriage between a gang-rape victim and one of the alleged rapists in an attempt to cover up the crime, has been suspended for his controversial role.
The suspension order was issued by the Police Headquarters yesterday, Rafikul Islam, superintendent of police in Pabna, told our local correspondent today.
Earlier on September 12, the district administration has withdrawn OC Obaiduland suspended Sub-Inspector Ekramul Haque over allegations of arranging a marriage between a rape victim and one of the rapists.
A woman, 33, also the mother of three children was gang-raped and allegedly forced to marry on of the alleged rapists in Pabna’s Dapunia last month. The victim was also compelled at the police station to sign divorce papers that mentioned an older date to make it seem like the woman was a divorcee.
The woman’s brother earlier told reporters that the marriage on September 5 was arranged by the officers to save the people accused in the gang-rape case.
After the allegations were reported in the media, police in the district formed a three-member committee to probe the matter.
The woman filed a case on the same day accusing five persons of confining her to a room and gang-raping her multiple times on August 29 and August 31. The accused Russel, Shariful Islam Ghontu, Hossain Ali, Osman and Sanju are from different villages in Pabna Sadar.
The district administration’s probe committee submitted report to the cabinet on September 15 saying everything published in the media comes true during the investigation.
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