Driver gives confessional statement, five placed on remand

Bus driver Sumon, 24, has given a confessional statement before a court over the incident of rape of a woman in a running bus in Ashulia on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka.

Five other accused of the case have been taken on three-day remand each.

Senior judicial magistrate of chief judicial magistrate (CJM) court of Dhaka Shahzadi Tahmida passed the order on Saturday. Police inspector Mezbah Uddin Ahmed confirmed the development to Prothom Alo.

Five accused taken to remand are bus driver’s assistant Anwer, Md Arian, 18, Saju, 20, Shohag, 25, and Saiful Islam, 40. They were produced before the court and the authorities sought five day remand for each of them.

Earlier in the afternoon, the victim underwent medical examination at the forensic department of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, said the department’s head Selim Reza.

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Police arrested six accused persons after the victim had filed a case with Ashulia police station this morning.

The victim lives in Narayanganj with her husband and children. She works at a garment factory there. Her husband is from Lalmonirhat.

According to the case statement, the victim's sister lives in Manikganj. The victim went there to visit her sister on Friday. Later around 6:30pm she boarded a bus on her way home from Manikganj bus stand. She was dropped off at the Nabinagar bus stand around 8:00pm. At the time, she was waiting for a bus to return home.

Around 9:00pm she got on a minibus of New Grambangla Paribahan. After she got on the bus, all the other passengers were dropped off before reaching their destination and the bus driver started driving towards Nabinagar again. At the time, six people, including the bus driver and helper raped the woman after closing all the windows and doors of the bus.

At one point, patrol police stopped the bus and rescued the victim. Later police detained those six involved in the incident and took them into custody.