Mother, daughter allegedly gang-raped in Cox’s Bazar: case filed, huntfor suspects ongoing

Cox’s Bazar । Bay Insight

A case has been filed in connection with the alleged gang rape of a 40-year-old mother and her 15-year-old daughter at their home in Cox’s Bazar’s newly-formed Matamuhuri upazila, as police continue their hunt for the prime suspect and remaining accused.

The incident occurred at around 2:30am on Tuesday in the Dolnighona area, when a gang of eight to ten armed men broke into the family home by cutting through a window grille. The victims’ husband and father was away in Chattogram on business at the time. A five-year-old child, the younger daughter of the family, was also present in the house during the attack.

Quoting family members, Abhijit Das, Assistant Superintendent of Police for the Chakaria Circle, said the gang looted gold jewellery and cash before sexually assaulting both the mother and her teenage daughter, and then fled the scene.

Chakaria Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md. Monir Hossain confirmed that the victim herself — the mother — filed the case after midnight on Wednesday, following treatment at Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital. The case names seven identified suspects and includes five to six unidentified people as accused.

Of the six men detained on Tuesday, five are named in the case as accused. The sixth, Rezaul Karim (36), was produced before the court as a suspect, as his name does not appear in the case. All six have been produced before the Chakaria Senior Judicial Magistrate Court.

The six detained individuals are: Rezaul Karim (36), brothers Tofazzal Hossain alias Babu (23) and Kefayat Hossain alias Puittya (27), Mohammad Tanzid (24) — all from the Dolnighona area of Matamuhuri upazila — Mehedi Hasan (24) of Kaddachara in Saharabil union, and Mohammad Tareq (26) of Koralkhali area.

The family has repeatedly named a locally feared criminal identified only as Jisan as a key figure behind the attack. However, he remains at large since the incident. OC Monir Hossain confirmed that Jisan has also been named in the case.

ASP Abhijit Das had earlier disclosed that Jisan was released from jail just five days before the attack, where he had been serving time on weapons and robbery charges. He described several of those involved in the attack as hardened criminals.

OC Monir Hossain said operations are ongoing to arrest the remaining suspects, and efforts are underway to identify the unidentified accused. Family members have alleged that the same criminal group had targeted their household on two to three previous occasions.