9-yr-old’s body found in a mosque

The body of a nine-year-old girl was found on the second floor of a mosque in Brahmanbaria's Sarail upazila on Sunday morning.

The victim, a fifth grader and daughter of a Bahrain expatriate, had been missing since Saturday afternoon. Police suspect she was raped before being murdered.

According to law enforcers and the victim's family, the child left home around 4:00pm on Saturday and never returned. Her uncle filed a general diary with Sarail Police Station around 1:00am after repeated search efforts failed.

The family, with the help of locals, also announced her disappearance over loudspeakers in the village.

Around 9:00am on Sunday, a group of children attending maktab (elementary religious classes) at the mosque found the girl's body on the second floor and alerted her family. After going to the spot, the family saw the child's body with a cloth around her neck. They informed the police immediately, who recovered the body and sent it to hospital for forensic tests.

Police and army personnel arrived at the scene shortly afterwards.

Speaking to reporters, the grieving mother demanded justice, saying, "My beloved child was tortured and murdered."

The child's uncle alleged, "She was brutally killed after being raped. We demand the highest punishment for those responsible."

The victim's mother that same day filed a case with Sarail Police Station against unidentified individuals.

Morshed Alam Chowdhury, officer-in-charge of Sarail Police Station, said, "There is evidence of sexual assault and injury marks on her body. She was strangled."

Following the case filing, the mosque's imam, Hamidur Rahman, and muezzin, Saidul Islam, were taken into police custody for questioning, he said, adding an inquest report has been prepared, and the child's body was sent for autopsy.

Superintendent of Brahmanbaria Police Ehteshamul Haque said, "We have launched an investigation and are working to bring those responsible to justice."

The Police Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Investigation Department are conducting parallel probes into the incident.

Meanwhile, the child's father reached Dhaka from Bahrain last evening to his daughter before her burial.

MAN SENT TO JAIL OVER ATTEMPTED RAPE OF 4YR-OLD

A Netrokona court yesterday sent a man to jail for the attempted rape of a four-year-old girl in Kalmakanda upazila on Sunday.

 The accused, Nabi Hossain, 40, was sent to jail after being produced before the Netrokona Judicial Court around 4:00pm, said Netrokona Court Inspector Mofiz Uddin Sheikh.

 The child's father filed a case under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, 2000, with Kalmakanda Police Station around 12:15am, said Officer-in-Charge Md Lutfur Rahman.

 According to the case statement, the girl was playing in her yard on Sunday evening when her neighbour, Nabi, took her to his house and attempted to rape her.

 Hearing her screams, her parents and neighbours rushed to the scene, rescued the child, and apprehended Nabi. They later informed police.

 "Nabi Hossain was immediately arrested and brought to the police station. After primary investigation, he was presented before the court today [yesterday] and sent to jail," said OC Lutfur.

(Our Brahmanbaria and Netrokona correspondents contributed to this report)