A 14-year-old girl was raped in the a cabin of MD Sundarban launch by a government employee in Jhalakathi on Wednesday.
The seventh-grader was on her way back to Dhaka with her boyfriend when the incident happened, sources in police said.
Sources said the victim, resident of Mirhajibagh area in the capital’s Jatrabari area, had gone to the village home of her boy friend Shanto Majhi, 20, at Alokdia village in Jhalakathi Sadar upazila via launch on Monday.
They boarded on Dhaka-bound MD Sundarban on Wednesday when a fourth-class employee of local land office, Md Arif, forcefully took her to a staff cabin around 4pm and raped her, while his two accomplices held Shanto.
After raping her, Arif and his accomplices threatened the victim and Shanto of bodily harm if they told anyone about the rape.
However, the locals suspected that something may have happened and informed police, who took both the victim and the boy in custody.
During initial interrogation, the victim denied having been raped, but after being asked several times, she admitted to being raped by Arif yesterday and told the police how he had threatened them to keep their mouth shut.
The victim was sent to a local hospital for medical examination, the results of which showed evidence of a rape.
Later, Shanto filed a case with Kathalia police station against Arif and his two accomplices yesterday evening. On the same day, police produced the victim before a local court, who ordered to place her in a victim support centre.
The rapist and his accomplices have yet to be arrested, police said.
Sources said the victim had run away from home due to a dispute with her father and step-mother.
When Jhalakathi police contacted her father, he said he had no interest in his daughter’s whereabouts or well-being.