Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have arrested the suspected rapist of a Dhaka University (DU) student who was violated on Sunday night at city’s Kurmitola area.
The accused has been primarily identified as Moznu, 32, a street hawker.
“The man who raped the DU student in Kurmitola is a serial rapist and a drug addict,” said RAB’s Legal and Media Wing Director Lt Col Sarwar Bin Kashem at a press briefing at RAB’s Karwan Bazar media centre.
He claimed that during initial interrogation, Moznu has admitted that he committed the rape which sparked massive protests in DU campus.
“Moznu choked the victim (DU student) and dragged her to a nearby bush. He hit the girl and tried to kill her after rape,” Sarwar said.
The DU student was raped in the city’s Kurmitola area on Sunday night. She is now undergoing treatment at the One-Stop Crisis Centre (OSCC) of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
The RAB official said, “Mojnu, 30, hailing from Hatia, used to rape physically challenged women and beggars.”
Sarwar said, “In guise of hawker, he was mainly involved in various criminal activities, including hijacking and thefts in and around the capital.”
“During our primary interrogation, Moznu admitted that he raped several women, mainly physically challenged and helpless women living on the street,” he further said.
Meanwhile, DMCH sources said some members of law enforcing agency visited the victim at the One-Stop Crisis Centre of DMCH with the pictures of arrested Moznu.
Seeing the pictures, the victim herself recognised the rapist, claimed the sources. RAB 1 Commanding Officer Lt Col Shafi Ullah also said the victim clearly identified the rapist.
He said RAB has recovered the missing mobile phone set of the victim from Moznu’s possession.
RAB arrested Moznu on Tuesday night from Dhaka’s Shewra rail crossing area,” said RAB’s Legal and Media Wing Senior Assistant Director Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan.
After the incident, DU students blocked Shahbagh intersection for two hours on Monday and gave the authorities a 24-hour ultimatum for arresting the rapist. They protested on Tuesday, too.
On Monday, the rape victim informed police that the perpetrator was alone while her father filed a case with the Cantonment Police Station.
The rapist told Rab that he had come to Dhaka about a decade ago. He lost his front teeth after falling off a train 12 years ago.
“The victim told us that the rapist did not have front teeth. This helped us identify the offender,” the Rab officer said.
Moznu, Lt Col Sarwar said, became a serial rapist after the death of his wife. “He used to work as a hawker and sometimes mugged people,” he said.
After raping and snatching the mobile phone of the DU student, Moznu sold it to a woman named Aruna, who sold it to one Khairul.
“We tracked the victim’s phone and detained Khairul from Shewra and then Aruna. We arrested Mojnu from Shewra on early Wednesday based on information given by her,” the Rab officer said.
The arrestees will be handed over to the Investigation Officer of the case.
Meanwhile, after accepting the first information report, a Dhaka Court ordered police to submit the probe report in the rape case by January 28.
