Woman 'gang-raped' again in Subarnachar for voting choice
Around 10 to 12 people allegedly gang-raped a woman and assaulted her husband for not voting a ruling Awami League candidate in upazila parishad election on Sunday evening.
The victim, a mother of five children, was sent to Noakhali General Hospital in the small hours of Monday.
The additional police superintendent of Noakhali district, Dipak Jyoti Khisha, rushed to the hospital when he came to know about the matter on Monday.
He quoted the victim as saying that a gang of miscreants attacked a woman and her husband and dragged her to a banana plantation nearby and raped her.
"The victim alleged that she was attacked following an altercation over voting for the AL candidate during upazila parishad elections. We want police investigation into the matter. Her husband will file a case soon," he added.
Undergoing treatment at the hospital, the gang-rape victim told Prothom Alo that she and her husband were threatened by Yusuf Majhi, a supporter of the 'lock' election symbol because they voted for the 'spectacles' symbol instead.
Both of the candidates contesting for vice-chairman post are ruling Awami League leaders.
As the couple were threatened, they took shelter in one of their relative's residence on Sunday afternoon and were returning home around 7:30 in the evening, she said.
"We were stopped on our way to home by some 10 to 12 persons. Of them, Bechu Majhi, 35, Fazlu, 30 and Abul Basar, 25, took me to a banana plantation and raped while others assaulted my husband," she said to Prothom Alo.
The victim's husband said, the attackers left the place after a thunderstorm began and he, with the help of the locals, recovered his wife unconscious.
Resident physician of Noakhali General Hospital Syed Mohi Uddin Abdul Azim told Prothom Alo that the victim would go through some medical examinations today, Monday.
Another woman of Subarnachar upazila was previously gang-raped for voting for 'sheaf of paddy', the electoral symbol of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) by ruling Awami League men on 30 December, 2018.