'Why police so ruthless to us?'

The investigation officer of a rape case claimed to have found the involvement of the victim's brother more than a year and a half after the incident and the court based on that sent him to jail on January 29.

This happened, according to the victim, because her family refused to withdraw the rape case filed against their neighbour Paritosh Chandra Devsharma. 

Paritosh, 26, had been arrested after the case was filed with Dinajpur court on May 12, 2016, and sent to Dinajpur jail. 

The 18-year-old rape victim went public on Saturday. At a press conference, she said, “We still don't know why police have been so ruthless towards us instead of being sympathetic.”

Police had been mounting pressure on her family members to make an out-of-court settlement. On January 28, they were asked to go to Bochaganj Police Station and persuaded to withdraw the case, the victim said.

But when the family refused to do so, investigation officer Abu Taleb asked Prodip Chandra Devsharma, the girl's brother, to stay back at the police station and asked other family members to go home, she added.

“The next day, we heard that my brother had been sent to jail for raping me,” the girl who studied up to class-V said in tears.

“Police brought such heinous charges against my own brother to humiliate my family socially.”

The victim's neighbour Paritosh of Phulbari under Biral upazila raped her on December 2, 2016, when she was home alone at Basudevpur under Bochaganj in Dinajpur.  Her parents tried to arrange village arbitration for action against the rapist but to no avail, the victim said.

The family then went to Bochaganj police to file a case, but police turned them away.

Later, the girl filed the rape case against Paritosh with a court.

Because of the rape, the victim had become pregnant, her family members said.

As Paritosh claimed that he was not the father of the child, IO Abu Taleb, a sub-inspector, sought the court's permission for a DNA test.

The IO took the victim and her new-born baby to Dhaka on September 25 last year in a rental microbus and went back the next day. 

The baby girl died a week later and the victim blamed the long journey for the death. 

Police had sent the body of the infant to Dinajpur Medical College Hospital for autopsy.

Officer-in-Charge Abdur Rouf said police had arrested the brother on getting information about his involvement, but did not disclose the source. 

“Is it imaginable that my own brother raped me and made me pregnant?” the victim said at the press conference.

“The actions of the police officer are part of a conspiracy. He must be punished for the offense,” she said.

The investigation officer has continuously been threatening her family with arrest of other members and further harassment, she added.

“Please help me get out of this,” she pleaded.

IO Abu Taleb over the phone said the investigation of the case was still on. He refused to speak any further.

Police had received the DNA test report, but the IO refused to talk about the report.