In a major incident, a woman and her teenage daughter were gang-raped during a robbery at their residence in the newly formed Matamuhuri upazila in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar area.
The incident took place at around 2:30 a.m. (local time) on early Tuesday, Dhaka Tribune quoted Chakaria Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mohammad Monir Hossain as saying.
As per police and local residents, the woman’s husband works in the Chittagong city. At the time of the incident, the woman and her two daughters, aged 15 and seven, were at home.
A gang of eight to 10 robbers entered their residence after cutting through the window grills, Hossain said and added that they looted gold ornaments as well as cash from the wardrobes.
The official added that the accused gang-raped the woman and her teenage daughter.
Soon after the attackers fled, the family members rushed to the scene to help them.
The victim’s brother told media persons, “We found my sister and niece severely traumatised, sitting huddled in separate rooms”.
“We rescued them and initially rushed them to the Chakaria Upazila Health Complex at around 4 a.m. They were later transferred to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital for advanced treatment,” he added.
The mother of the woman has expressed shock over the brutality and stated that such an incident was unprecedented in the area. The family members have now demanded capital punishment for those responsible.
After the incident, the law enforcement agencies launched a pre-dawn raid and apprehended the suspects.
The police have detained six persons in connection with the incident. Among these include Rezaul Karim (36), Tofazzal Hossain (23), Kefaet Hossain (27), Mohammad Tanzid (24), Mehedi Hasan (24), and Mohammad Tarek (26).
All the six suspects have been identified as residents of the local area.
“Police conducted an operation at dawn and detained six individuals… The victims have already positively identified four of the detainees as direct participants in the crime,” the official said.
Further investigation in the matter is currently underway.