An angry mob has attacked and vandalized the house of an accused following the gang rape and brutal murder of a 10-year-old child, Kamrunnahar Koli, in Pabna Sadar Upazila.
The rampage took place yesterday, Friday (September 18), after Jummah prayers in Dogachi Union of Pabna Sadar Upazila. Hundreds of enraged local residents gathered to attack the two-story house of the primary accused, Mostafa Kamal (55), reducing it to ruins after a hours-long rampage.
Following prayers, a procession of several hundred people marched toward Mostafa’s residence in Dogachi Union. The agitated crowd broke through the boundary wall, doors, and window grills, entered the house, carried out extensive vandalism, ransacked the furniture, and looted various items.
Fearing an attack, police had been deployed to secure the house since the previous day. However, facing the fury of the massive crowd, the law enforcement personnel were eventually forced to step back.
Describing the incident, local resident Parvez said, “Police were deployed there since yesterday, but when everyone jointly charged after Jummah prayers, the police could not control the situation despite their efforts. No one can accept the barbaric treatment meted out to the young child.”
Abdur Rob Montu, member secretary of the Pabna district unit of the human rights organization ‘Human Rights and Defender’, expressed concern over people taking the law into their own hands. He stated that such trends stem from fears of impunity and a lack of trust in law enforcement agencies. Noting that this is unacceptable, he emphasized that the state and administration must play a more active and responsible role to curb the culture of taking the law into one’s own hands under the guise of protest.
Pabna Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md. Tarikul Islam said that police had been deployed at the house to maintain normalcy. However, considering the risk of a major untoward incident and potential damage, valuable belongings from the house had been moved to a safe location beforehand.
The 10-year-old child, Kamrunnahar Koli, went missing on the evening of September 9 after stepping out to go shopping. Seven days after her disappearance, on the morning of September 16, police recovered her sack-bound body from a local abandoned ditch.
Police investigation revealed that the primary accused, Mostafa Kamal (55), and his tenant, Yasin Ali (21), lured the child into a room behind a grocery shop and subjected her to severe sexual assault. Fearing exposure, they strangled her to death, stuffed her body into a sack, hid it under a bed initially, and later dumped it in the ditch.
Police have already arrested the prime accused, Mostafa Kamal, and Yasin Ali in connection with the incident. Digital evidence has been recovered from their mobile phones, and police stated that process is underway to submit the charge sheet promptly.
