Two Ansar members held for raping woman

A woman was allegedly raped by two Ansar members at the 250-bed General Hospital in Manikganj early yesterday.

The Ansar members have been detained, said Mohammad Sarwar Alam, superintendent of Manikganj police.

Quoting the victim and her husband, the SP said the two from Narayanganj was going to the house of his relative in Manikganj Sadar upazila on their own battery-run rickshaw-van. When they reached the Manikganj bus stand area around 2:00am, three-wheeler ran out of charge.

The police official added that they went to the hospital for their safety and took shelter in front of its main gate. Then, Ansar members -- Shahadat Hossain and Abu Sayeed -- who were on duty there, assured them of their cooperation and took them inside the hospital. They took the victim to the second floor of the 10-storey hospital, leaving her husband on the ground floor. 

The Ansar members threatened the woman and raped her. Later, the victim disclosed the incident to her husband, who was on the ground floor. The two later went to Manikganj Sadar Police Station and lodged a complaint. 

Upon receiving the complaint, police went to the spot and called all the Ansar members on duty to the police station. When the victim identified Shahadat and Sayeed, they were detained, the SP said.

Kamruzzaman, commandant of Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defence Party in Manikganj, told The Daily Star, “The two Ansar members are in police custody. They have been suspended.”

A two-member committee, led by upazila Ansar and VDP officer Shamima Akter, has been formed to investigate the incident. 

Mohammad Bahauddin, superintendent of the 250-bed General Hospital in Manikganj, said the victim was undergoing treatment.

Ikram Hossain, officer-in-charge of Manikganj Sadar Police Station, said the process for filing a case was underway.