DNA report shows proof of main accused’s involvement: Range DIG

The DNA reports in that Magura child rape case have found proof of involvement of the main accused, father-in-law of the child’s sister. The police are now investigating the roles of the other members of the family played in this incident. Deputy inspector general (DIG) of police in Khulna range, Md Rezaul Haque stated this to a private television channel yesterday, Monday.

This police officer stated that the DNA report found evidence of one person’s involvement and that is the father-in-law of the child’s sister. The investigation is in the final stage. The charge sheet will be submitted soon, he told the journalist.

When Prothom Alo contacted DIG Rezaul Haque in this regard he didn’t respond. Nor did he respond to the message sent on WhatsApp. No officer of the district police is making any official statement either as the investigation is in the final stage.  

Earlier, the father-in-law of the child’s sister had given a confessional statement in the court that he raped the child alone. Senior judicial magistrate in Magura, Sabyasachi Roy recorded that accused’s statement given under Section 164.  

The accused stated in the statement that he raped and then tried to murder the child finding her alone in the room of his younger son (the child’s brother-in-law) on the morning of 6 March. This has been found by speaking to sources from the court and police members involved in the investigation.

People involved in the investigation say that the statement given by the accused doesn’t match the case statement recorded by the child’s mother. The plaintiff had stated that the incident occurred at night. However, the mother had also mentioned in the case statement that the accused had been making advances on her elder daughter since her marriage to the accused’s younger son. Other members of the family also knew about it. There had been quarrels about it as well.

The victim child from Magura went to visit her elder sister’s in-laws house on 1 March. The child was taken to Magura 250-bed hospital in an unconscious state at around 11:30 am on 6 March. Then the child died while undergoing treatment at Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka on 13 March afternoon. The child’s body was transported to Magura on a helicopter that evening. After her first namaz-e-Janaza, agitated crowd vandalised and torched the house of the accused.

Earlier, the mother of the victim child filed a case on charges of rape and sexual assault under the women and children repression prevention act with Magura Sadar police station on 8 March. The father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law and the husband of the child’s sister were accused in the case. Of them, only the main accused has given his statement. The police are investigating the role of the other three accused in this incident. All of them are in police custody.

The Women and Children Repression Prevention (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, was imposed amid nationwide protests and rallies against rape and abuse centering the incident with the child in Magura. This will reduce the delay in investigation and trial of these cases.