4 Mahima rapists remanded
Autopsy report confirms suicide after gangrape
Our Correspondent, Rajshahi
http://www.dailystarnews.com/200202/28/n2022801.htm#BODY7
Four of the six accused arrested in connection with the two cases of gang-rape and suicide of Mahima were placed on five days' remand yesterday.
They are Ujjal, accused in the gang-rape case; and Musharraf, Khalil and Jahangir, accused in the case filed for instigating Mahima to commit suicide.
Musharraf and Khalil are fathers of Ujjal and Selim respectively and Jahangir is the maternal uncle of Selim.
Selim and two others -- Farooque and Farid -- all accused in the rape case, are absconding.
Two others -- Mutaleb and Sikander -- arrested in the case for instigating the suicide, were not produced for remand. Mutalib and Sikander are fathers of Farooque and Farid respectively.
Court Sub-inspector Azab Ali prayed for seven days' remand of the four accused. First Class Magistrate Dewan Mohammad Hunayun Kabir granted five days' remand.
Meanwhile, the autopsy report handed over to the Investigation Officer (IO) of the cases said Mahima committed suicide by taking poison after being gang-raped, sources said.
The OC of Puthia thana told this correspondent that the investigation was going on well. "We are now trying to nab the three absconding persons accused in the rape case. We expect to get important information by interrogating the four remanded accused," he said.
There is no pressure from any quarter, he said.
Awami League leader and former state minister Abdul Quddus yesterday visited the parents of Mahima and expressed sympathy with them. He also demanded arrest and punishment of the culprits.
Schoolgirl Mahima, 15, daughter of Abdul Hannan of Kanthalbaria village in Puthia upazila in Rajshahi was abducted and gang-raped by four youths identified as activists of Jatiyatabadi Chatra Dal (JCD) in the afternoon of February 15. The raprists also took photographs of rape scenes.
Mahima committed suicide on February 19.
Abdul Hannan filed a case of gang-rage accusing Ujjal, Selim, Ferrooque and Ferid and another case against their fathers Musharraf, Khalil, Mutaleb and Sekander for instigating Mahima to commit suicide.
Police arrested Ujjal and the four fathers the same night. Selim's maternal uncle Jahangir, a local leader of Jamaat-e-Islami was arrested on the night of February 21.