Scared silent

The incident took place at Gobindaguni village in Mirpur in the district on the night of May 15.

When a group of journalists led by advocate Nargis Chowdhury, executive director of PALOK, a local Legal Aid and Human Rights organisation, went to the village on Saturday, some villagers burst into tears.

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Runa's parents and the villagers told the journalists that they did not dare to face the criminals allegedly led by Imrul as they are very influential and carry arms.

Imrul, son of Shamsuddin of the same village, is an accused in Aslam murder case and involved in crimes in the area, they said. Aslam was murdered in December last year.

Runa was a student of class eight at Mirpur Girls High School. Imrul used to tease her on way to school.

They said Imrul proposed to Runa's father Mahbub to marry Runa. But Runa declined. Imrul threatened to take revenge.

On the night of May 15, Imrul and his five accomplices entered into Runa's room and forcibly brought her out pressing a cloth on her mouth. They took her to a paddy field nearby.

The gangraped and slaughtered her.

Police recovered the body on the following day and sent it to Kushtia general hospital for autopsy.

On Friday, a large number of people of the area staged a demonstration demanding immediate arrest of the culprits. A case has been filed.

Police arrested one of the alleged killers --Mahtab -- but Imrul, the gang leader, is till at large, the villagers alleged.