Madrasa student arrested over rape of 10-year-old in Banasree

Police have arrested a madrasa student accused in a case filed over the rape and alleged abetment to the suicide of a 10-year-old student in Dhaka’s Banasree area.

A team from Rampura Police Station arrested Shihab Hossain, 19, from Bera upazila in Pabna last night, Muhammad Harun Or Rashid, deputy commissioner of Motijheel Division Police, told The Daily Star this morning.

Police made the arrest following the death of Abdullah, a student of Alokito Quran International Hifz Madrasa in Banasree C Block.

At around 10:00pm on Tuesday, police officers went to the madrasa after receiving reports that the child had died by suicide.

The body was sent to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for an autopsy.

During the inquest, officers noticed signs of sexual assault. This led to extensive questioning of madrasa authorities, who then revealed earlier allegations that Shihab had sexually abused four other students at the institution, according to a press release issued by Motijheel Division Police.

Yesterday, Abdullah’s mother, Mosammat Tuku Ara Khatun, filed a case against Shihab and an unnamed individual under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, 2000.

According to police, Shihab fled the madrasa before Abdullah took his own life. A team from Rampura Police Station later tracked him down to his village home in Pabna and arrested him.