Banani rape victims post images of pain and despair on Facebook

A girl is standing under a shower, her face drenched in water, the eye liner dripping down her face. A look of despair is in the woman's eyes. This symbolic photo was posted on the Facebook profile of a rape victim on March 30, two days after the crime. The rape took place at the Rain Tree hotel in Dhaka on March 28. Two young women, both university students, were allegedly raped by Shafaat Ahmed, his friends Nayeem Ashraf and Sadman Sakif while Shafat’s driver Billal and his bodyguard Azad helped them subdue the victims and filmed the entire incident. The victims in their first police complaint said they had completely broken down and that it took a long time for them to muster the courage to speak up. For a month, they did not even tell their family members what atrocities were committed in the hotel. The victims said that they did not know how they spent the night after losing all hope to live. Later, a victim on March 30 posted the depressed girl’s symbolic snap. Her sorrow can be realised by the comment-conversation with one of her friends. A friend's inquiries about her mental condition in the comments section of the image were met with non-commital replies. The victim again on April 1 posted another image of fear on her Facebook ID. The other victim of the Banani rape also expressed her despair through similar posts. An image of a woman putting her hands together in a gesture of pleading was posted as her cover photo on March 30. On April 1, the second victim posted an image of a girl child with tears in her eyes, her mouth taped shut and on it, written: “If you tell anyone.” The rapists had allegedly been threatening the victims not to approach law enforcement. Dildar Hossain, father of the prime accused Shafat, has claimed that the entire incident was fabricated to blackmail his son. The victims said they had initially feared the social stigma associated with rape and did not want to go to the police, but the rapists were continuously threatening to post the videos online if the victims did not comply with their order to meet them again. The two victims’ physical examinations were held at Dhaka Medical College Hospital 40 days after the incident. The hospital said a report would be issued 15-20 days later. Due to the delay, concerns have been raised whether evidence would be found in the report. On Tuesday night, the case was handed over to Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Victim Support Centre and Investigation Unit. All documents of the case were provided to the unit’s Inspector Emi, the investigation officer. Victims said that police were sure of the identities and whereabouts of all the accused but had not arrested them because they were from influential families. The two also alleged that rapists had repeatedly been threatening them over phone and social media to withdraw their case. The prime accused was last seen in Sylhet on Monday evening. Police did not find his passport after a raid in his residence in Gulshan on Tuesday.