The woman, who was gang-raped on a moving bus after some robbers took control of the vehicle in Tangail, opened up about the horrific incident while undergoing treatment at a hospital.
She started by saying that the Eagle Paribahan bus stopped at a hotel in Sirajganj at around 11pm, so passengers could eat and take rest.
Around five minutes after the bus started its journey, three people got on the bus. They looked like they were in their early 20s, she added.
Later, four more people boarded the bus, followed by six more from Sirajganj alone.
“One of them wanted to sit beside me but I did not let him. I had two seats reserved for me as I am the wife of an employee of the bus,” she said while undergoing treatment at Tangail General Hospital.
Later they went to the driver and asked him to stop as they would get down. “However, later we saw they held a knife over his throat. The robbers took control of the bus and sent the driver and his assistant to the back,”
She recalled that the robbers had tied all the male, six women passengers and employees of the bus with curtains.
Later they closed all the windows, dimmed the lights, and snatched money, mobile phones and jewelleries from the passengers. They also physically assaulted many of them, the rape survivor said.
She further mentioned that she believes another woman was raped as well at that time. “Her husband took her from the hospital while she was undergoing treatment. I could not ask anything.”
After holding the passengers hostage for two and a half hours, the group drove the bus into a sand pile opposite Roktipara Jamme Mosque in Madhupur at around 3am on Wednesday.
Madhupur police station OC Mohammad Mazharul Amin said: "There were 24-25 passengers on the bus. The robbers took everyone hostage and looted everything. The woman was gang-raped because she tried to stop the robbery.”
The rape survivor, a garment worker, got her health checked up at Tangail General Hospital.
Hospital gynecologist Dr Rehena Parveen, who conducted the tests, said there were injury marks on her body.
Earlier in the day, police arrested Raja Mia in the Deola area of the district.
Three mobile phones were seized from his possession at the time.
Superintendent of Police Sarker Mohammad Kaiser said Raja had given a confessional statement but denied raping the woman.
Meanwhile, Tangail court placed Raja on a five-day remand over the incident.
Our Tangail correspondent Abdullah Al Numan contributed to this report
