Teen girl gangraped in a bus in Comilla

Teen girl gangraped in a bus in Comilla

A 16-year-old girl was reportedly held captive and gangraped in a Tisha Plus Paribahan bus in Comilla.

Police arrested the bus driver Arif Hossain Sohel and his assistant Babu Sheikh following the incident on Monday.

On Thursday, police produced the alleged rapists in court and sought a 7 day remand to determine other possible accomplices.

As of the writing of this report, police are still looking for the third alleged rapist, one Md Alam, supervisor of the bus.

On Wednesday, the girl underwent medical tests at Comilla Medical College Hospital and gave her testimony in court.

According to the case details, the girl from Sahebad village in Brahmanpara upazila of Comilla, had gone to Dhaka a few days ago in search of a job.

On Monday, she boarded a Comilla-bound Tisha Plus Paribahan bus from Dhaka’s Sayedabad bus terminal at around 11:30pm to return home.

She was assured by the bus driver, his assistant, and the supervisor, that she would safely be dropped off at the Shasangachha bus stop.

However, after all the other passengers got off at their respective stops, the three accused did not take the bus to the girl's destination. Instead, they parked it at an isolated spot near Paduar Bazar under Comilla Sadar Dakshin Police Station.

Babu Sheikh, Arif Hossain Sohel, and Alam, closed the doors and windows of the bus and gangraped the girl at around 4am in the early hours of Tuesday.

At break of dawn, Babu Sheikh and Alam took the girl to Babu’s house and raped her there again. They kicked her out of the house when she fell severely ill at around 8am Tuesday morning.

Later that day, the girl managed to call her mother and informed her of the matter.

The girl’s mother reached Paduar Bazar and managed to collect the names and addresses of the accused with the help of locals.

The girl's mother then filed a case against the three, with Comilla Sadar Dakshin Model Police Station the same night.

Dulal Hossain Opu, managing director of Tisha Plus Paribahan, said he cooperated with police after his bus staff were accused of raping the girl.

The girl was a garments worker in Gazipur and returned home five months ago for the Covid-19 pandemic, said the girl’s mother. She demanded exemplary punishment for the people involved in her daughter’s rape.