“Mojnu (the arrestee) choked the victim (DU student) and dragged her to a nearby bush. He hit the girl and tried to kill her after rape,” said Director (Media) of the Rab headquarters Lt Col Sarwar Bin Kashem.

During initial interrogation, he has admitted to being a serial rapist and a drug addict.

“Mojnu, 30, hailing from Hatia, used to rape physically challenged women and beggars,” Lt Col Sarwar told reporters at the Karwan Bazar media centre.

The rapist was arrested from Dhaka’s Shewra rail crossing area around 4:05am. Rab recovered the mobile phone of the victim and some other items belonging to her from Mojnu.

The DU student was raped in the city’s Kurmitola area on Sunday night. She is now undergoing treatment at the One-Stop Crisis Centre (OSCC) of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

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After the incident, DU students blocked Shahbagh intersection for two hours on Monday and gave the authorities a 24-hour ultimatum for arresting the rapist. They protested on Tuesday, too.

On Monday, the rape victim informed police that the perpetrator was alone while her father filed a case with the Cantonment Police Station.

The rapist told Rab that he had come to Dhaka about a decade ago. He lost his front teeth after falling off a train 12 years ago.

“The victim told us that the rapist did not have front teeth. This helped us identify the offender,” the Rab officer said.

Mojnu, Lt Col Sarwar said, became a serial rapist after the death of his wife. “He used to work as a hawker and sometimes mugged people,” he said.

After raping and snatching the mobile phone of the DU student, Mojnu sold it to a woman named Aruna, who sold it to one Khairul.

“We tracked the victim’s phone and detained Khairul from Shewra and then Aruna. We arrested Mojnu from Shewra on early Wednesday based on information given by her,” the Rab officer said.

The arrestees will be handed over to the Investigation Officer of the case.

See : Rape of fellow: Four DU students go on hunger strike

Rape of DU student triggers protests; students issue 24-hr ultimatum