Madaripur killings after rape: Five arrested so far

A Madaripur court has granted police 7 days for questioning three young men arrested over the killing of two innocent schoolgirls. Shahjahan Mia, Sub-Inspector of Madaripur Kotwali Police Station, also the investigation officer in the case, had sought 10-day remand to grill the suspected rapists after he presented them in court. The arrested are Rakib Shikdar, Shipon Shikdar and Rafiq Shikdar, all reportedly associates of Alam Shikdar, the victims’ neighbour. Families of the victims alleged that the two girls were raped and murdered over a land dispute between them and Alam Shikdar, reportedly a wayward man. Madaripur’s Assistant Superintendent of Police Moniruzzaman said Chief Judicial Magistrate Md Zakaria passed the remand order after the hearing on Saturday. ‘Sumaiya’, 14, and ‘Happy’, 15, both eight grade students, went missing on Thursday after they left for school from their home at Mostofapur village in Madaripur Sadar Upazila. Their bodies were found at the Madaripur Sadar Hospital in the afternoon that day. Police had arrested Shipon and Rafiq, who were with the girls’ bodies, from the hospital. Rakib was arrested on Saturday morning from Tribhardi village in Sadar upazila’s Kunia Union. Kotwali Police Station OC Ziaul Morshed said the three were accused in the murder case Sumaiya’s father Billal Shikdar lodged on Friday. The others named in the case are ‘Mehedi’, ‘Rana’, ‘Ujjal’, and ‘Sajan’, according to a news agency.
- mbz