Khulna Gang Rape: File an FIR against the accused cops

An officer-in-charge and some other members of Khulna railway police, who are accused of raping a woman, were interrogated by two probe committees yesterday.

The committees, formed by Railway Police Headquarters and Pakshey Railway Police, also spoke to the woman at the Khulna Jail gate.

Meanwhile, responding to the woman’s complaint, the chief judicial magistrate’s court directed the superintendent of railway police to file a First Information Report (FIR) against the accused under the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013, court sources said.

Speaking to The Daily Star over the phone, Superintendent of Police in Pakshey Railway Nazrul Islam yesterday said, “The court’s letter has arrived, but it has not yet been opened. We will work according to the directions given there.”

Firoz Ahmed, assistant superintendent of police (Kushtia Railway Circle) who is leading the probe committee formed by the Railway Police to investigate the allegations, said, “We already spoke to members of the General Railway Police (GRP), office staffers of the Khulna Railway Police Station, along with night guards and shopkeepers [at the railway station].”

He said they also spoke to and took statements from the woman’s family members.

“We are talking to whoever can give us information about the incident,” he said, adding, “It is not the proper time to talk in details about what the investigation has gathered so far, but we are trying to find the facts.”

Primarily, the railway police’s probe committee found negligence of duty of GRP police members, Firoz said.

Meanwhile, the woman’s family was preparing to file a case against OC Osman Gani Pathan and sub-inspector Nazmul Haque of Khulna Railway Police Station, family sources said.

Bangladesh Human Rights Implementation Agency was providing legal assistance to the woman.

Mominul Islam, co-coordinator of the agency, told The Daily Star that the overall preparations for the case filing have already been taken.

“We do not have enough time to file the case before Eid. After Eid, we will give logistical support to the victim [in this regard],” he said.

On Wednesday, the OC and SI were withdrawn and closed from Khulna Railway Police Station over the allegations and were attached to Pakshey Railway Police Lines.

On Friday evening, the 30-year-old woman was detained inside a train by Railway Police in Khulna’s Phultala Railway Station.

She was then taken to Khulna Railway Station and then to a residential building for members of GRP where she was gang-raped by the OC and four other policemen, the woman’s sister said.

The next day, the alleged rapists filed a case against the victim for possessing five bottles of Phensedyl, after which a court sent her to jail.

On Sunday, the victim filed a bail petition with the district’s additional chief judicial magistrate’s court. She also filed a complaint against the policemen with the court that day.

The incident has sparked outrage.

Earlier, the OC had denied his involvement in the rape, terming the allegation false and baseless. He even claimed not being present at the police station that night.