Arrestee sent to jail

A Dhaka court yesterday sent Kamal Hossain, the lone arrestee in connection with the Pahela Baishakh sexual assault case, to jail after he refused to give confessional statement before a magistrate.

Earlier in the day, Detective Branch (DB) of police brought Kamal to the chamber of Metropolitan Magistrate Md Nuru Miah for recording his confessional statement. But Kamal refused to give it.

He was produced before the court on completion of his two-day remand.

In yesterday's forwarding report, DB Sub-Inspector Dipak Chandra Das, who is heading the investigation into the case, said Kamal earlier admitted to police that he was involved in the incident and he would give a confessional statement to a magistrate.

On refusal, the magistrate ordered police to send Kamal to jail.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, Dipak said he would seek a fresh remand for Kamal after the Third Tribunal for Prevention of Women and Children Repression revived the assault case.

A court hearing on the petition for revival of the case will be held on February 23.  

The arrest of Kamal, 35, came just over a month after the investigators submitted the final report in the case to a Dhaka court, saying they had failed to identify or arrest anyone in connection with the incident.

The latest development has now prompted police to seek revival of the case over the sexual assaults on women during the Pahela Baishakh celebrations on Dhaka University campus last year.

Police say Kamal was arrested from a house at the capital's Chawkbazar on Wednesday evening.

The next day, Kamal was placed on a two-day remand after detectives produced him before a Dhaka court with a seven-day remand prayer.

During the Pahela Baishakh celebrations on April 14 last year, at least 20 women were molested for over an hour.

Police initially refused to even admit that any such incident had happened. They also allegedly released a couple of offenders, caught on the spot and handed over to them by people.

Amid a huge public outcry, police later admitted the incident and conducted several inquiries.