Two female dancers were allegedly gang-raped in the middle of Titas river while on their way to a wedding programme in Sarail upazila of Brahmanbaria, where they had been hired to perform, according to police and a case statement.
Following the incident, a relative of one of the victims filed the case with Sarail Police Station accusing five people on Friday night, said Sarail Police Station Officer-in-Charge Manzur Kader Bhuiyan.
Police arrested Shanto Biswas, 19, from Budda village in the upazila in the early hours of yesterday. He was sent to jail through a court later in the day, the police official said.
According to the case statement, Rakib Mia, 22, of Shahbazpur village, contacted a young male dancer from Chandina upazila of Cumilla to arrange a dance performance at a wedding programme in Shahbazpur village, adjacent to the Dhaka-Sylhet highway.
Rakib agreed to pay Tk 9,000 for three dancers. All three professional dancers perform at weddings and other events in different parts of the country. As agreed, Rakib also paid them Tk 2,000 in advance through bKash.
The male dancer from Chandina reached the Bishwaroad intersection in Sarail around 3:30pm last Thursday with a 16-year-old and a 19-year-old female dancers. Rakib and another man then allegedly took them by a CNG-run auto-rickshaw to the Shahbazpur Bridge area.
From there, the three dancers were taken by an engine-powered boat onto the Titas River. At one point, the men stopped the boat's engine in the middle of the river. They then allegedly held the male dancer hostage at gunpoint and raped the two female dancers.
The alleged assault continued from 5:00pm to 7:00pm, according to the case statement.
Around 8:00pm, the five men allegedly fled by boat, leaving the three dancers near Bhuiyar Ghat in neighbouring Nasirnagar upazila.
Jahirul Islam Talukdar, inspector (investigation) of Sarail Police Station and the investigation officer in the case, said one of the accused had been arrested.
“He has confessed to his involvement in the incident,” the police officer said, adding that the other four accused had been identified and efforts were underway to arrest them.
