Pallabi child rape and murder: Law minister orders probe report within a week

Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman has instructed the commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) to submit an investigation report within a week over the rape and brutal murder of a seven-year-old girl in capital’s Pallabi.

A ministry of law official told journalists today, Thursday that the minister issued the directive to the DMP commissioner.

The same official said the law minister had assured that appropriate steps would be taken to ensure swift completion of the trial over the brutal incident.

The main accused, 34-year-old Sohel Rana, gave a confessional statement before a court Wednesday. In his statement, he said the child was killed after being raped. He also admitted attempting to dismember the body in an effort to conceal the crime and dispose of the remains.

After recording the statement, the court ordered that Sohel Rana be sent to jail. His wife, Swapna Akter, was also sent to jail in connection with the same incident.

At around 11:30 am on Tuesday, the dismembered body of the child was recovered from a flat on the third floor of a building in Pallabi.

Following the incident, the prime accused, Sohel Rana, fled the scene by breaking the window bars of the flat. His wife, Swapna Akter, was arrested from the scene, while Sohel Rana was later arrested from Fatullah in Narayanganj that evening.

On Tuesday night, the child’s father filed a case with Pallabi Police Station against Sohel Rana and his wife Swapna Akter under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. In the case statement, the father said he believed his daughter had been raped before being killed.