Madaripur girl killed after rape: RAB

Sajjad Hossain Khan, 40, the main accused for killing madrasa student Dipti Akhter arrested. He has been arrested from Purba Khagdi of Sadar upazila at 5:00am and produced before the RAB-8 camp in Madaripur on Saturday. Photo: Aujoy Kundu
Sajjad Hossain Khan, 40, the main accused for killing madrasa student Dipti Akhter arrested. He has been arrested from Purba Khagdi of Sadar upazila at 5:00am and produced before the RAB-8 camp in Madaripur on Saturday. Photo: Aujoy Kundu

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) claimed to have unearthed the mystery of madrasa student Dipti Akhter's murder.

According to RAB, the driver of a battery-run three wheeler, locally known easy-bike, made Dipti get down from his vehicle and forcefully took her to his home.

"He strangled her to death after rape. He tied bricks with her body and threw it to an abandoned pond," said RAB officials.

Commanding officer of RAB-8 Madaripur camp, Atika Islam, made the disclosure at a press conference on Saturday morning.

Earlier, RAB arrested Sajjad Hossain Khan, 40, the main accused from Purba Khagdi of Sadar upazila at 5:00am on Saturday.

On 13 July, police recovered an unidentified body of a fifteen-year old girl from an abandoned pond at Purba Khagdi of Sadar upazila in Madaripur.

Then, it was assumed that the girl was killed after rape. The body was drowned in the pond to vanish it.

A day after the incident, Dipti’s father identified the body as his daughter in the morgue of Madaripur Sadar hospital.

On the following day on 14 July, he filed a case with Sadar police station against unidentified persons. Soon after the incident, Sadar police station as well as a team of the RAB-8 led by its additional superintendent of police, Rois Uddin, opened an investigation to unearth the mystery of the incident and nab the accused.

At one stage of the investigation, a sack of cement containing dress, veil and shoes used by Dipti were recovered from the abandoned pond on 18 July. On the basis of these evidences, Sajjad was arrested.

At the press conference, Atika Islam said Dipti went to her sister’s house at Master colony area in Madaripur town on 9 July. She left for the house of her expatriate uncle on 11 July. In the afternoon on that day, she was going in an easy-bike towards Charmugria from her sister's house at Iterpool of Madaripur town.

In Pura Khagdi area, easy-bike driver Sajjad pressed Dipti’s face and forcefully took her to his home. He raped her there and strangled her to death.

Sajjad tied bricks around Dipti’s neck and drowned the body in an abandoned pond near his home. He stuffed Dipti’s cloths in a sack of cement and threw it into a pond near his house.

Dipti’s family members were present at the press conference.

Her mother Nasima Begum said, “My daughter did not harm anybody. Why did the thug kill my daughter? I want his death sentence.”

Special investigation officer of RAB-8 and additional superintendent of police, Rois Uddin, said accused Sajjad was handed over to Sadar model police station.

Earlier in 1992, Sajjad was imprisoned for 18 years for strangling a seven-year-child to death.