Woman gang-raped in running bus in Ashulia, 6 arrested

A woman has allegedly been gang-raped in a running bus in Ashulia on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka.

The victim filed a case with the police station on Saturday. Police arrested six people in connection with the incident.

The arrestees are – Md Arian, 18, a resident of Gulbagh Indrapur village under the Turag police station, Saju, 20, of Taraguna area in Daulatpur upazila in Kushtia, Sumon, 24, and Shohag, 25, from Khatiamari area in Dhunat upazila of Bogura, Saiful Islam, 40, of Zianagar village in Bogura’s Dupchapia upazila and Monowar, 24, of Dhamghar under the Bandar police station in Narayangranj. All of them work as minibus drivers on Abdullahpur-Baipail-Nabinagar route.

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 to custody.

Confirming the matter, Ashulia police station’s inspector (investigation) said the victim has filed a case against those six accused today. All of the accused have been arrested on the night of the incident. Police have found the evidence of the allegation primarily true. The victim would be sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for a medical test.