United News of Bangladesh

The operations of all modes of transport have remained suspended since Sunday morning as an indefinite road blockade continues in Khagrachhari district, protesting the alleged rape of a schoolgirl. Although no untoward incidents have been reported so far, security has been tightened in the district town and surrounding areas. Police, along with seven platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and army patrols, are maintaining order. The blockade follows Saturday’s clashes and protests. The situation remains tense, with residents staying indoors in fear. Business establishments, including shops across the town and suburbs, remain shut. Meanwhile, the local administration on Saturday imposed Section 144 for an indefinite period in Khagrachhari municipality, Sadar upazila, and Guimara. Section 144 enforced in Khagrachari amid blockade over schoolgirl rape Deputy Commissioner ABM Iftekharul Islam Khandakar said the restriction will remain in force until the situation improves. The unrest stems from a September 23 incident, when three youths allegedly raped an indigenous eighth-grade student in the Singinala area while she was returning home from private tuition. The victim’s father filed a case with Sadar Police Station that night against three unidentified men. Police, with the help of the army, arrested a suspect, Nayan Shil, the following morning.

A case has been filed against two youths for allegedly raping a 26-year-old mother of one and recording the incident on mobile phone in Bhola’s Tajumuddin upazila. The woman’s brother filed the case with Tajumuddin Police Station on Sunday night, naming Rasel and Gias Uddin as accused. According to the complaint, the incident took place on June 10 in Charchra union of the upazila. The woman was staying at her father’s house with her child, around 11pm, she went to use the toilet behind the house. Gias Uddin allegedly grabbed her and raped her, while Rasel recorded the incident. The woman claimed that Rasel later attempted to assault her, but she managed to escape. She remained silent fearing social stigma, but the accused started harassing her in public and threatened to spread the video if she spoke out. Two held over gang-rape in Bhola, BNP expels three leaders The accused are local Awami League activists, but they now claim to be BNP and Jubo Dal activists. Tajumuddin police chief Mohabbat Khan confirmed the case and said efforts are underway to arrest the accused. Earlier, another gang-rape case was filed in the same upazila last week, with five suspects already arrested.  

The daughter of July martyr Jasim Uddin, who recently passed away under tragic circumstances, will be laid to rest beside her father’s grave in Dumki upazila of Patuakhali. Her funeral prayer is scheduled to take place at her family home in Pangashia union after Maghrib prayers on Sunday, following which she will be buried alongside her late father. According to family members, the young woman was found dead on Saturday night at a rented house on Road No 6 in the Shekhertek area of Mohammadpur, Dhaka. She was discovered hanging inside the house and was rushed to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead upon arrival. Officer-in-charge of Dumki Police Station, Mohammad Zakir Hossain, said the autopsy at Suhrawardy Hospital was nearing completion, and her body would soon be handed over to the family. He said an investigation was underway to determine the precise cause of death. Leaders of the National Citizens’ Party (NCP), including Chief Organiser (Northern Region) Sarjis Alam, Joint Member Secretary Humayra Noor, and Joint Member Secretary Faisal Mahmud Shanto, are travelling to Patuakhali to attend the funeral and offer condolences to the bereaved family. The victim had recently endured a harrowing ordeal. On March 18, while travelling to her maternal grandparents’ house in Pangashia, she was allegedly gang-raped by two individuals, Sakib and Sifat, from the Naldoyani area. Displaying immense courage, she personally filed a case against the accused at Dumki Police Station. Bangladeshi national shot dead reportedly by BSF in 24 Parganas Both suspects were subsequently arrested and presented before the court, and the case remains under investigation. Family members revealed that following the assault, she had been grappling with severe mental trauma. They said the burden of social stigma, combined with fear of not receiving justice, had plunged her into deep depression, ultimately leading her to take her own life. Her father, Jasim Uddin, was killed by police during last year's July Uprising in Dhaka, a loss that had already cast a long shadow over the family. The tragedy has once again underscored the devastating impact of sexual violence and the urgent need for a society where victims feel protected, supported and able to seek justice without fear.

Police on Saturday arrested the prime suspect in connection with the rape of a housewife in Cumilla’s Nangalkot upazila. The arrestee, identified as Imam Hossain, 24, was sent to Cumilla jail following a court appearance, said AK Fazlul Haque, officer-in-charge of Nangalkot Police Station. According to police sources, the incident took place in a village under Nangalkot upazila. The 22-year-old victim lodged a written complaint the following day, prompting police to launch an investigation. Based on preliminary findings, the allegations were deemed credible and a formal case was recorded. The case named two people, with another remaining unidentified. Imam Hossain was arrested the same night. Natore man stabs a woman after failed rape attempt The victim alleged she was tied with iron chains and raped. Her attackers also cut off her hair during the brutal assault. In her statement, she said the accused had previously threatened to rape her. Efforts are underway to identify and arrest the remaining suspects, OC Fazlul Haque added.

Police have arrested a bus driver and his helper over the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl in the Chandgaon bus terminal area of Chattogram. The two —Lokman Tarek, 26, and Hanif, 36—were held on Wednesday. A third suspect, bus supervisor Mobarak Hossain, is on the run. According to police, the girl had been travelling from Cox’s Bazar to Chattogram on Tuesday when the accused reportedly misled her and took her to the terminal after other passengers got off the bus, where she was sexually assaulted throughout the night. Youth arrested for demanding extortion at Jigatola Following a complaint lodged by the girl, police conducted an overnight operation to detain the two suspects. During primary questioning, they reportedly confessed to their involvement, police said. The victim is now under medical care at the One-Stop Crisis Centre of Chittagong Medical College Hospital. Efforts to arrest the remaining suspect are underway, said Chandgaon Police Station officer-in-charge Md Aftab Uddin.

A Chuadanga tribunal on Wednesday convicted a man and sentenced him to death for violating her 15-year-old daughter in 2008. The convict was identified as Altaf Hossain, 46 of Datinakhali village in Satkhira district. Chuadanga Woman and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Syed Habibul Islam handed down the punishment. The court also fined him Tk 2 lakh. According to the prosecution, Altaf used to live at his in-law’s house at Chitla Hudapara village in Alamdanga upazila after his marriage. Policeman among 3 detained with Yaba pills in Cox’s Bazar On February 16, 2024, the daughter of Altaf got married and after some days, the girl got pregnant. On December 5, 2023, the girl came to her parent’s house on December 5, 2023. Getting the girl alone, Altaf  raped her  several times during her stay in the house after issuing death threat. On March 7, 2024, Altaf’s wife filed a case with Alamdanga Police Station. Police submitted chargesheet against him on December 11, 2024.

A seven-year-old girl has been killed allegedly after being raped in Natore's Baraigram upazila. Police recovered the body of Jui, 7, daughter of Malaysian expatriate Jahirul Islam of Garfa village in the upazila, from neighboring Chatmohor upazila. Quating family members Chandai union parishad chairman Shahnaz Parveen said Jui had been missing since she got out from home on the day of Pahelda Boisakh (Monday).   Krishal Dal activist stabbed dead in Gazipur On Tuesday morning, locals spotted the girl's naked body in a maize field at Katakhali Haripur area in Chatmohar upazila in Pabna, said Shahnaz Parveen. Upon receiving information, family members rushed to the scene and identified the girl as Jui. Her face was found burnt apparently by acid. Mahbub Hossain, officer-in-cahrge of Baraigram Police Station, said that they are investigating the incident.         

Police on Sunday submitted the chargesheet in the Magura child rape case before the court, one month after the incident. The chargesheet was submitted before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Abdul Matin against four people on Sunday afternoon, said Ayub Ali, officer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station. Magura rape: Locals demand women madrasha at accused's home The prime accused of the case Hitu Sheikh gave a confessional statement before the court under section 164, according to court papers. The case had drawn national attention after the tragic death of eight-year-old Asiya. On March 6 at dawn, Asiya, who had come to visit her sister’s house, became severely ill after being raped allegedly by her brother-in-law’s father, Hitu Sheikh. Magura rape victim’s gayebana janaza held at DU Despite receiving treatment in various hospitals, she ultimately passed away at the Dhaka Combined Military Hospital (CMH) on Thursday, March 13. In response, enraged protesters burned down the houses of the accused. Students and activists continue to blockade the Dhaka-Khulna highway daily in protest, demanding justice for Asiya.

Two class-six girls were raped allegedly by eight youths in Raipura upazila of Narsingdi on Monday evening. Local union parishad chairman and others were reportedly trying to settle the matter and no suspect was detained. Quoting the victims their family members said the schoolgirls took up a boat trip with local youths- Kaium and Munna- in a river on Monday afternoon, and the accused tactfully passed the entire afternoon in the boat ride so that the girls could not return home before the evening. When the evening fell, the two youths docked the boat on a riverbank and took the girls behind a school where the two called in six other youths. Later, all of them raped the girls and left them abandoned. The victims managed to return their respective houses and shared the matter with the family members. Seeking justice for the girls, the victims’ families went to the local UP Chairman Masuda Zaman who assured them of settling the matter through arbitration. One of the victims’ father said, "I fell unconscious after hearing the incident after returning home at night. Rapists are influential. We can't go with them. Moreover, thinking about marrying my daughter in the future, I have given justice to the chairman of the area.” Adil Mahmud, officer-in-charge of Raipura police station, said they don't have any idea about such an incident as no complaint was lodged in this regard. Legal action will be taken if complaints are lodged, the OC said.

The acting chairman of Badarpur union in Patuakhali Sadar upazila, Babul Howlader, has been accused of orchestrating an arson attack on the house of a woman who had filed an attempted rape case against him. According to local sources, unidentified assailants set fire to the house of the victim in Mithapur village late last night.The blaze spread quickly, forcing the family members to flee for their lives. Despite efforts by locals to control the fire, most of the house was reduced to ashes. The victim and her family alleged that the attack was carried out at the instigation of acting chairman Babul Howlader and his associates. They claimed they had been receiving threats ever since filing the case against him for attempted rape and looting. A powerful local group had also been pressuring them to withdraw the case, they added. Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Patuakhali Sadar Police Station, Imtiaz Ahmed, said, “We are investigating the matter, and legal action will be taken against those responsible,” he said.Meanwhile, attempts to contact the accused chairman for comment were unsuccessful as he did not respond to phone calls.