Police have detained a truck driver and his assistant for sexually assaulting a mentally challenged 25-year-old woman in a moving truck travelling from Dhaka to North Bengal.
The accused were caught after the truck was stopped and impounded in Sirajganj after receiving information from a witness through 999, the national emergency helpline number.
Police rescued the rape survivor on Tuesday evening after detaining the two men from Koddarmor area on Bangabandhu Bridge West Link Road.
The duo was identified by police as truck driver Sohel Rana, 32, and his assistant Mohammad Abdul Wahab Sheikh, 28.
Police suspect they raped the woman, who is from Sirajganj.
Traffic Sergeant Amir Hossain, who is posted in Kodda area under Bangabandhu west police station, said the truck picked up two youths from Chandra area of Gazipur on Tuesday.
Later, a man accompanying the woman flagged down the truck and asked the driver to give her a ride to Chandaikona, Sirajganj. The man also informed the driver and his helper that she was mentally challenged.
The duo let the woman sit in the front seat with them, while the two youths remained in the back.
On the way, when they stopped at Elenga in Tangail for a break, one of the youths who were travelling on the back of the truck saw that the driver and the helper were trying to sexually assault the woman.
When the young man tried to record a video of the incident on his mobile phone, the perpetrators managed to quickly flee the scene and drive away, with the woman still in the truck, police said.
The youth then reported the incident to 999. Based on that, Sirajganj police, traffic police and highway police were notified. Later in the evening, the truck was stopped on Bangabandhu Bridge West Link Road, the two perpetrators were detained and the woman rescued.
Bangabandhu west police OC Mosaddeq Hossain said: “We suspect from initial investigation that the woman has been raped. However, given her mental condition, she is unable to explain what happened.
“She will be sent for a medical examination to determine the matter.”
The woman’s father is also in the process of filing a case against the men, the OC added.
