Police have arrested five individuals accused of being involved in the gang rape of a 13-year-old in Kamrangirchar area, Dhaka.
The girl was raped on the first floor of an under-construction building in Kamrangirchar’s East Rasulpur area, between 6pm and 8pm on Thursday, police said.
Her family later rescued her, and her mother immediately filed a case with Kamrangirchar police station against six people, including a female friend of the victim.
Five of the accused were arrested on Friday, Kamrangirchar police station OC ABM Moshiur Rahman said, adding that one of the accused is still on the run.
All of the accused are around 18 years old, they live in the same area, and have previously known each other, the OC added.
Among the arrested, the four male accused, who work in different factories, have already confessed to having committed the crime, the OC further said.
“The female friend introduced the girl to the youths. At one point, they took her inside the building and gang-raped her,” he said, quoting the accused.
After she was rescued, the victim was rushed to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) and admitted to the One-Stop Crisis Centre (OCC).
Police are working on apprehending the sixth accused as soon as possible, the OC said.
According to a report by NGO Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF), at least 902 children were reported to have been raped across Bangladesh in 2019 – nearly a threefold rise from the previous year’s number, which was 356.
Of the 902 children, 48% were between the ages of 13 and 18, and 39% were between the ages of 7 and 12, the MJF report found.
