A union parishad (UP) chairman has been sued for raping a teenage girl at his office in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka.
The victim filed the case against Shahabuddin Matbar, 50, chairman of Ashulia union parishad, with a court in Dhaka on Sunday as police declined to receive her complaint.
The court, however, took the case into its cognizance and ordered the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to investigate the matter.
Two more people -- Md Alamgir, 38, brother-in-law of the chairman and his personal assistant Sabuj Shikder, 35 -- were also made accused in the case.
According to the case statement, the victim along with one of her relatives went to the union parishad office on September 22 to make a complaint to the chairman on an issue related to some financial dealings.
As the chairman was not at his office, she went to his house and made the complaint.
On their way home, Alamgir and Sabuj forcibly took them to the union parishad office again saying her complaint was false.
At the office, the chairman raped the victim while her relative was confined to another room.
Alamgir and Sabuj also sexually harassed her after Shahabuddin left the place.
The victim and her relative were threatened to dire consequences and were released on condition of keeping secret the matter, the case statement said.
Later, the victim filed a written complaint with Ashulia police station, but police did not receive it, it added.
When contacted, Inspector (Investigation) Ziaul Islam of the police station said he was unaware of the matter and is now looking into it.
Chairman Shahabuddin could not be reached for comments despite repeated phone calls.
