Police have arrested one Pir Abu Bakar Siddik Atik Ullah after allegations of rape in Faridganj upazila in Chandpur district.
He was arrested Wednesday night and produced before a court on Thursday.
Seven months after giving birth to a child, conceived after an alleged sexual assault by the Pir, a woman in Chandpur filed a case, accusing him of raping her.
Abu Bakar is a Pir at the Subidpur Darbar Sharif of Paschim Subidpur union in Faridganj.
According to information from the complaint lodged with the police, the victim, Jannatul, 17, was a housekeeper at the house Pir Abu Bakar Siddique Atiq Ullah, 57, is a resident of.
Atik Ullah allegedly raped Jannatul on September 15, 2016. Two months after the alleged incident, she was married off to a guy from the neighbouring village of Borgaon. As she gave birth to a baby boy within seven months of the marriage, people started questioning about who actually was the father of the child. Locals tried to mediate and solve the problem but the attempts bore no fruit.
Finding no answer to the questions of the people about the identity of father of her son, Jannatul felt compelled to file a case of allegations of rape on January 25.
Atik Ullah denied the allegation saying: "The charges against me are baseless. It is intended to harass me."
Investigation officer Sub-Inspector (SI) Nurul Islam confirmed that police have arrested the accused and sent him to court on Thursday, and that the investigation is ongoing.
Sunday, March 23, 2025
