Dispute between brothers behind rape of woman in Muradnagar

Staff Reporter :

Dispute between two brothers was behind the rape and circulation of video of the incident in Cumilla’s Muradnagar Upazila on 26 June, said Rapid Action Battalion (RAB-11).

One of the main accused, Md Shah Poran, 28, who is the brother of another arrestee Fojor Ali was apprehended from the Kabir Bazar area under Burichang Police Station yesterday (3 July). A mobile phone used in the incident was also recovered from his possession, reads a press release issued by RAB.

During interrogation, the arrested suspect confessed to planning the attack and encouraging others to record and spread the video as part of a personal vendetta against his brother. Shah Poran said, in order to take revenge on his brother Fojor Ali due to a previous enmity, he, with the help of other accused, tortured, molested the victim and Fojor Ali and recorded obscene videos and disseminated them on social media.

After the incident, Shah Poran and his accomplices went into hiding, but were tracked down through technological surveillance and intelligence efforts, said RAB. According to RAB sources, the incident occurred on the night of 26 June, when the female victim was staying at her parents’ home in Bahechar village.

It was also learned that Fojor Ali and his younger brother Shah Poran had been harassing the victim for a long time, reads the release.

Two months before the incident, due to a dispute between the two brothers, a verbal altercation and physical confrontation took place. As a result, during a village arbitration held publicly, the elder brother Fazor Ali slapped his younger brother Shah Poran in front of everyone.

Subsequently, Shah Poran began looking for an opportunity to take revenge on his elder brother. A few days after the arbitration, the victim’s mother took a loan of Tk50,000 from Fojor Ali with interest. Fojor Ali entered the victim’s bedroom at around 11:30pm under the pretext of collecting the loan repayment, while her parents were at a nearby house to attend a fair organised by followers of the Sanatan (Hindu) religion.

At approximately 11:50pm, a group of 8–10 men, including Shah Poran and others from the same village, forcefully entered the house, physically assaulted the woman, and recorded explicit videos of the incident, added the release. These videos were later spread on social media.