A woman, 25, and her relatives alleged that a certain Fazar Ali, 38, raped her finding her alone at home at Muradnagar upazila of Cumilla. Fazar Ali came to the home for the money he lent the family.
The victim woman informed Prothom Alo that Fazar Ali, who has a conflict with her parents’ family over the money, asked the woman to open her room’s door around 11:00 pm on Thursday. As she declined opening the door, he broke into the house and raped her.
The woman further said as neighbours sensed the incident of rape, the came to the house and started beating Fazar Ali. He was in a naked state at that time.
According to her, the four people arrested by the police were the ones who beat Fazar Ali. Their people spread the video online.
This correspondent went to the house of the Hindu woman and spoke to her younger brother, who is a mason by profession. He told Prothom Alo that they borrowed Tk 50,000 from Fazar Ali at a gross interest of Tk 4,000. The due date of the loan passed a few days ago but they could not return the money. Instead, the family sought a few more days from Fazar Ali. But the lender started threatening them. On Thursday night, Fazar Ali came to their home in connection with the money and raped his sister.
The victim’s brother further said their parents were not at home at the time of the incident. They went to attend a weekly religious gathering. He himself was at the neighbouring Titas upazila for his work. His sister and her two children were asleep at home.
Speaking about her sister’s disrobed video that was spread online, he said Fazar Ali has conflict with his brother Shah Paran, who sent people to their home during the incident. They beat up his sister in a naked state, took the video and spread it online.
Visiting the spot, additional superintendent of police (Muradnagar circle) KM Kamruzzaman told Prothom Alo, “Following the incident, many people claimed the incident as an extramarital affair. But our initial investigation could not ascertain that. Truly that woman is a victim of barbaric violence. While talking to her, I realised she is a simple minded woman. We are investigating the incident with due importance. We are also running investigation to find out whether anyone else in involved with the incident of torture and taking the video.”
A neighbour of that woman said on Thursday night, there was a lot of noise coming from that house. Out of fear, she called for help. When people arrived, they saw that the door had been broken. They then rescued the woman. At that time, some individuals assaulted her and filmed her in that state. Later, when everyone realised that the woman had been subjected to abuse, they started beating Fazar Ali.
Two lawsuits and five arrested
The woman filed a lawsuit at Muradnagar police station on charge of rape accusing Fazar Ali. She filed another lawsuit naming four and 20-25 unnamed people under the pornography control act, 2012, today, Sunday.
Muradnagar police station officer-in-charge Zahidur Rahman confirmed this to Prothom Alo.
The OC said Fazar Ali, 38, was arrested from Sayedabad in Dhaka early today. Indiscriminate beating during the incident broke his limbs. Currently he is undergoing treatment at Cumilla district police hospital.
He further said four people, who filmed the victim in a naked state and spread the 51-second video online, were also arrested. They are: Mohammad Ali alias Sumon, Ramzan Ali, Md Arif, and Md Anik. They were sent to the court this afternoon.
Of them, Mohammad Ali is a former ward level leader of banned Bangladesh Chhatra League.
Wishing not to be named, a local person said injured Fazar Ali’s family members and relatives took him to a hospital in Cumilla town but he fled from there upon hearing about the lawsuit. Later, the police arrested him from Dhaka.
Local union parishad’s former member Abdur Rob told Prothom Alo that Fazar Ali is a known drug dealer of the locality. He robbed many families of the area through his gambling business. He used to identify himself as an Awami League leader for the last 15 years. Since 5 August he has been identifying himself as a BNP man. However, he does not have any post neither in any committee of the Awami League nor of the BNP.
Panic in the eyes
The victim’s parental home is near the Titas River that flows by Muradnagar upazila. Her father fishes in the river to feed his family. Since the incident, the whole family has been living in fear and panic. The victim woman is also in a panicked condition.
She seeks exemplary punishment of the people involved with the incident. But she also said her expatriate husband does not want any more trouble. He asked her to withdraw the lawsuit. However, no one else made any such request, she added.