The first question the rapists asked before storming into the homes of two neighbouring brothers and gang raping their wives, two daughters and a daughter-in-law was: “Did you vote? Who did you vote for in the election?”
The victims, who could barely guess from this question what fate awaited them, replied at once in the negative. The houses were a few hundred yards away from the periphery of Hrishipara in Monirampur’s Haridashkati union.
Chairman of the Union Niranjan Prosad Biswas believes the incident was related to the national elections, as 95% of about 750 voters in the Hrishipara are known to be Awami League supporters.
In the first three hours after the voting began on January 5, about 200 votes were already cast at the Katakhali polling centre before BNP-Jamaat men bombed the area, forcing the authorities to suspend voting, he said.
Two of the women who were raped were below the age of 18 and did not even have the right to vote.
They were raped on their veranda, mother listening to the cries of her daughter, daughter thinking about the life of her husband who was held hostage at gun point, and the husband unable to move and save their wife.
One of the families now lives in Panchkari village in the house of their in-laws. One has taken shelter inside the village.
As hope fades away for the victims who were threatened out of their homes, dried yellow leaves are piling up gradually and covering the tiny abandoned thatched huts the morning following the rape, .
“Leave the land and do not come back here ever. If you tell anyone about this, your blood will flood this place,” said one of the rapists.
There is hardly any chance for the victims to get back to their place, separated only by a small paddy field from the nearby village called Bhomorda, locally known as ‘Pakistan.’
People of Bhomorda were the first in the country to raise a platform for the release of death row convict and war criminal Delwar Hossain Sayedee.
One of the victims believes the attackers footsteps could still be traced on the isle leading to Bhomorda through the paddy field.
