The investigation committee formed by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has not found any connection between the Noakhali gang rape incident and the 11th parliamentary election polls.
However, the committee’s fact finding report confirmed that the woman in Subarnachar was raped and brutally tortured, and called for immediate punishment of the perpetrators.
The family members of the victim, who is a 30 year old mother of four, earlier claimed that a group of local Awami League activists, wielding firearms, barged into their home around midnight on December 31, forcibly took the woman away, and gang-raped her.
The husband claimed they attacked his wife because she had voted for the local BNP candidate in the 11th general election held on December 30. He filed a case regarding the matter with Charjabbar police station on the evening of December 31.
What the victim and her family says
In videos of the victim and her husband obtained by the Dhaka Tribune, the victim said: “They came around midnight and hacked me. There were over 10, including two named Sohel, as well as Chowdhury Sohag, and Bechu. They barged in, hacked me, beat my husband and tied him up. Then they took me to the yard, ripped my clothes off, gagged me and took turns raping me.”
She added that the attackers were followers of Ruhul Amin, and they had intended to kill her but spared her when she begged for her life. Before they left, the attackers threatened to kill the victim and her family if she reported the incident.
The victim’s husband said: “The attackers included two Sohels, Salahuddin, Rubel, Mosharraf Hossain, Henju Majhi, Bechu, Anwar, Hanif, and Swapan. My wife and son will be able to tell you who the others were.
“I didn’t go to cast my vote as I am sick. But I asked her to vote for BNP. Although she went to the polling centre, she could not cast her vote. Because of that, they did this [raped her] later at night.”
He added that the attackers also stole Tk40,000, some gold jewellery, and his son’s mobile phone.
The NHRC’s findings
When contacted, NHRC Chairman Kazi Reazul Hoque confirmed that the victim and her husband did not mention any connection between the polls and the attack when speaking to members of the investigation committee.
“The medical report and the NHRC investigation report have found evidence of gang rape. The people who committed this heinous crime on the night of voting shall be brought to justice and punished as soon as possible. The perpetrators have already been identified and the charge sheet will be filed soon,” he said.
He also said the NHRC was prepared to offer the victim legal support if she wanted it. “If the victim wants NHRC to run the case on her behalf, the commission is ready to provide support for her so that justice can be served on an immediate basis.”
How the NHRC report was prepared
The three-member NHRC fact finding committee’s report was sent to secretaries of the Law and Justice Division of the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry, as well as to the secretary of the Public Security Division of the Home Ministry, by NHRC secretary Hironmoy Baroi on January 8.
The NHRC formed the committee on January 1, and the members of the committee went to Noakhali to investigate the incident on January 2.
The committee took statements from the victim, her husband and plaintiff in the case, Officer in Charge of Char Chabbar police station M Nizam Uddin, resident surgeon of Noakhali General Hospital Syed Mohiuddin Abdul Nazim, Police Super M Ilias Sharif, and Deputy Commissioner of the district, Tanmay Das.
After recording the statements, the committee concluded that the woman was beaten and raped by the nine accused named in the first information report (FIR), but there was no connection between the attack and the 11th general polls.
The committee’s report also said the FIR indicates that the incident was the result of previous enmity between the criminals and the family of the victim.
Victim threatened with dire consequences
In her statement to the NHRC committee, the 30-year-old victim said she had gone to vote at polling centre 14, where a man named Sohel and some unidentified others attempted to intimidate her into voting for boat.
In response, the victim said she would vote for whoever she wanted to. Sohel then reportedly told her there would be trouble for her in the evening.
At midnight that day, a group of men stormed into the family’s home and kidnapped the victim, before beating and raping her.
The victim’s husband in his statement said a constable took him to the police station after his wife was admitted to hospital. The constable wrote the report while the husband recounted the events, and then took the husband’s signature.
The husband further said he suspected that Member Ruhul Amin had orchestrated the attack, but his name was not mentioned in the FIR.
The FIR also did not include any mention of a connection between the December 30 polls and the rape incident.
