'Rape' in Banani: Accused 'confesses his involvement'

Ivan

Bahauddin Ivan, 28, has admitted raping a woman at his home in Banani on Wednesday, claimed Rapid Action Battalion yesterday.

Ivan, accused in the latest Banani rape case, also told Rab interrogators that he had been abusing drugs since 2005, Mufti Mahmud, director of legal and media wing of the elite force, said at a press conference.

Ivan's close relatives told Rab officials that he was no stranger to scandals involving women, the officer told reporters at Rab Media Centre in the capital.

“During primary interrogation, he [Ivan] admitted his role in the incident,” Mufti said, referring to the rape allegation.

Rab arrested Ivan at his aunt's home in Majdair area of Narayanganj on Thursday.

Ivan told Rab that there were some video clips involving the plaintiff in his possession, but Rab couldn't find them, the officer said.

The woman in the First Information Report mentioned that Ivan threatened to upload the clips on the internet and blackmailed her.

“Ivan was hiding on the roof as police raided his Banani home on Wednesday morning,” he said.

He later tried to hide in Chairman Bari in Banani and in Uttara. He eventually spent the night at a relative's house in Dakshin Khan.

Ivan went to his aunt's place in Narayanganj's Majdair on Thursday.

Rab handed him over to Banani police yesterday.

Sub-Inspector Sultana Akhter of Banani Police Station, who is investigating the case, told The Daily Star that she would seek court's permission for a forensic examination on the tee-shirt the plaintiff was wearing that night.

On March 28, two university students were allegedly raped after they attended a birthday party at a Banani hotel. Police have pressed charges against five accused in the case.

Rab official Mufti said they talked to Ivan's parents, close relatives and friends for information leading to his arrest. “Ivan's father cooperated with Rab by providing necessary information on the whereabouts of his son.”

Ivan dropped out of school when he was in class-IX and went into rehab twice for drug abuse.

His parents got him married in 2008 hoping that would change his way of living, said the Rab officer, adding that Ivan was a father of two.

Asked, whether the accused “drugged” the woman, the officer said it would be known after forensic tests.

In the case filed with Banani Police Station on Wednesday, the 21-year-old woman said she met Ivan on Facebook around 11 months ago, and they later started dating.

She in the FIR said Ivan invited her to his purported birthday party at his Banani home on Tuesday night and raped her.

As she started screaming, Ivan drove her out of his house, but kept her bag, which contained three dresses, two pairs of jeans, a 'Kurta', three mobile phones and Tk 15,000, she said.

Rab had not found the bag, Mufti said.

A Dhaka court yesterday placed Ivan on a four-day remand.