Two female dancers gang-raped after being hired to perform at wedding
Graphics: Agamir Somoy
Two female dancers were allegedly gang-raped on a boat in Sarail of Brahmanbaria, after being invited to perform at a wedding ceremony. One of the victims is a teenage girl. Police have arrested a young man named Rakib Mia in connection with the case.
According to police and the case statement, the incident took place between Thursday afternoon and evening on the Titas River at Shahbazpur area of the upazila. The two victims are residents of Chandina of Cumilla. They perform dances at various social ceremonies across the country on a contractual basis.
According to the case statement, Rakib Mia obtained the women’s mobile number from their Facebook page and contacted them to perform at a wedding ceremony under Shahbazpur area of Sarail. Under an agreement for a payment of Tk 9,000, they arrived in the Sarail Bishwa Road area on Thursday afternoon. From there, Rakib and his associates took them in a CNG-powered autorickshaw to a location under a bridge at Shahbazpur. They were then put on a motorised boat on the pretext of taking them quickly to the wedding venue. After the boat reached the middle of the Titas River, the boatman switched off the engine. The case statement alleges that Rakib and his associates then took the two women inside the boat’s covered section and raped them.
The case statement also said that when a male member accompanying the women tried to intervene, the accused threatened to kill him while displaying sharp weapons.
According to the case statement, the incident took place in the middle of the river from around 5:30pm until 7pm. The accused later dropped the victims off at Bhuiya Ghat, beside the Titas River at Kunda area of Nasirnagar upazila, around 8pm and fled.
The victims initially went to Nasirnagar Police Station to seek legal assistance. As the incident occurred under the jurisdiction of Sarail Police Station, they were advised to file the case there. They subsequently filed a case at Sarail Police Station on Thursday night under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.
Rakib Mia was named as the prime accused in the case, along with four to five unidentified others.
Sarail Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md. Manzur Quader Bhuiya said one person had been arrested in connection with the case. Police were conducting operations to arrest the other accused, he said.
