Hill Voice, 6 May 2020, Cox’s Bazar: A 16-year-old indigenous Chakma girl has been abducted in Cox’s Bazar. The incident took place on 5 June 2020 Friday at 1.45 pm in Kasturighat area of Cox’s Bazar town.
According to local sources, a resident of Mochakhola village in Ukhiya upazila of Cox’s Bazar district named Mongpu Chakma with his 16-year-old daughter was returning to Cox’s Bazar by bus from Chittagong. When the bus reached Link Road near Cox’s Bazar, they father and daughter got down to catch vehicle for Ukhiya.
From there they boarded on an autorickshaw. At this time an unknown Bengali also got into the autorickshaw. The abduction took place when the autorickshaw reached at Kasturighat area of Cox’s Bazar’s main town.
According to local sources, on reaching the Kasturighat area, the Bengali man stopped the autorickshaw saying that there was some work to be done at Pubali Bank. The girl’s father Mongpu Chakma was also requested to go to the bank with him for help. The Bengali man then left the girl in the autorickshaw and took the girl’s father to Pubali Bank.
But the Bengali man tricked the girl’s father and left him in one place and returned to the place where the autorickshaw was left. Then he paid the fare of the autorickshaw brought from Link Road.
After that, the Bengali man said to the girl, “Come on, your father is waiting for us, we will go in another vehicle”. After taking girl to a broken shop in Kasturaghat, he then kidnapped her.
Failing to trace out his daughter after many searches, the girl’s father Mongpu Chakma, with the help of Monthela, general secretary of the Cox’s Bazar branch of the Bangladesh Adivasi Forum, informed the local police station.
When the incident came to light, today 6 June Saturday morning, the Bengali man sent the girl directly to Ukhiya’s Mochakhola by renting an autorickshaw.
While writing this report it is learnt that a case is being prepared to file with the police station for abducting the girl. However, the Bengali man who kidnapped the girl has not been arrested yet.
Some days back on 5 January 2020 a 7th class indigenous Chakma girl (15) was also abducted from her home of Shamlapur in Cox’s Bazar district. She remains still untraced.