Hill Voice, 3 March 2023, Khagrachari: Recently, a Jumma schoolgirl (14) of grade 8 was picked up and raped and at one point attempted to be trafficked elsewhere in Panchari of Khagrachari district.
It is known that the schoolgirl was picked up around noon on February 10, 2023, and immediately after that, she was detained by the miscreants, and the incident of rape and attempted trafficking took place. But the victim girl and her family did not dare to disclose the incident till now fearing threats from miscreants.
According to the victim’s family sources, the school girl of Rangapanichara village of Panchari upazila sadar went to the Malta plantation near their house on February 10, 2023 around noon. At that time, the schoolgirl met a young Tripura boy and a Chakma girl together in the plantation. At that time, the Tripura boy and Chakma girl applied anesthetic spray on the nose and face of the schoolgirl and immediately made the her put on a mask and took the girl to a house of a Barua family in Talukdar Para area of Panchari Bazar. There, the Tripura boy and Chakma girl handed over the schoolgirl to a motorcycle dealer named Jonny Barua and a local shopkeeper named Kajal Barua. After that, Jonny Barua and Kajal Barua closed the doors and windows of the house and detained the schoolgirl.
Later, around 5 pm Jonny Barua and Kajal Barua threatened to kill the girl if she screamed and took her to the back yard of saw-mill of a man named Md. Momin near Kala Bagan (banana plantation) area of Upazila Sadar. During this time, the schoolgirl’s hair was forcibly cut in boycott style. After that, the schoolgirl was again taken to her previous house and detained.
At night, a pair of shoes and t-shirts were brought for the girl and the girl was asked to wear them. After that Jonny Barua and Kajal Barua spoke to a person on mobile and said that they will send the girl to Dhaka.
At one point that night, Jonny Barua and Kajal Barua entered the student’s room and forcibly raped the girl in turn.
The next day on February 11, 2023, Jonny Barua and Kajal Barua took the girl on a motorcycle to an empty mud house in Ultachari and handed her over to Md. Shakib and his associate and left there. After some time, Md. Saqib and his accomplice took turns raping the girl and then took the girl from there and spent the night in a house.
Meanwhile, the physical and mental condition of the girl collapsed as a result of the application of anesthetic drugs and repeated rape. In this situation, on February 12, 2023, around 8 am, Md. Shakib and his colleague took the injured girl from Ultachari and left her near a shop in Panchari market. Later, the girl went to the nearby Mukta Library in an almost critical condition.
Later, the girl’s grandfather rescued the girl from Mukta Library in an almost abnormal state and took the girl to her home. Seeing the serious physical and mental condition of the girl, the family members admitted the girl to Khagrachari Hospital. After four days of treatment, the girl recovered somewhat and was taken home.
It is learnt that when the rapists repeatedly threatened to kill the student, the girl and her family were afraid to report the incident to the police. However, when the matter is known among the family members, the details of this horrible incident are known from there.
It is to be noted that on February 24, 2023, around 12 noon, a Marma woman (24) was allegedly raped by a settler named Md Kaiser, son of Abdullah in Hargaja area of Fansiakhali Union of Lama Upazila of Bandarban. It is said that even though a case was registered in the police station, the police could not arrest the rapist. It was alleged that the local UP chairman helped the criminal Md Kaiser to escape without giving a fair trial to the incident.
On the other hand, on the same day (February 24, 2023) at 7:30 p.m. in Sadar Union area of Matiranga upazila of Khagrachari district, a complaint was received of attempted rape of a Jumma housewife by a Bengali settler named Md. Saddam (28). The accused, Saddam Hossain, is said to be a laborer in the border road construction work being conducted by the army in Mahalchhari upazila.
