Rape accused dies in police custody
Police say he committed suicide; deceased’s family alleges he was tortured to death
A man accused of raping and publicising the video footage of the rape on social media has died mysteriously in the custody of the Tejgaon Industrial Area Police Station in the city.
The deceased was identified as Abu Bakar Siddique Babu, 45, a floor in-charge of Bangladesh Film Development Corporation.
According to police, Babu was detained on Saturday evening after two cases were filed against him – one for raping and the other under the Digital Security Act.
Inspector Iftekhar Islam took Babu to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital in an unconscious state, where on-duty doctor declared him dead.
Police said Babu killed himself by hanging from the grill with his shawl around 3 am on Sunday. The scene has been captured by the closed-circuit camera, they claimed, adding three other persons who were with Babu in the custody were sleeping while the incident was taking place.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police has formed a three-member probe body headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Tejgaon Zone Rubayiat Zaman to investigate the incident. The other two members of the investigation panel are ADC (administration) Mrityunjoy Sajal and Assistant Commissioner (patrol) Mohammad Abdullah.
Meanwhile, Babu's wife Aleya Ferdausi said her husband was arrested in false cases.
She also claimed that Babu was killed in police torture and she demanded justice for this.
"Babu was neither a terrorist nor a smuggler. Police did not inform us of his arrest. We came to the hospital after hearing about his death at around 11 am," she said.
Babu is the son of one Nurul Islam hailing from Baliakandi village in Noakhali. He had been living with his two children at the Mohammadpur area in the capital.
Meanwhile, Babu's father-in-law Abdul Ali alleged that the woman who has filed the cases had built an extra-marital affair with Babu.
"Her husband was aware of the unethical relationship," Ali said, adding, "The woman also took Tk5 lakh from Babu. And when Babu wanted his money back, she filed the cases against him."
ADC Rubaiyat Zaman told The Business Standard, "After analysing the CCTV footage and other aspects, it is primarily deemed that Babu killed himself."
He, however, said they are looking into the incident to find out the reality.
He also refuted the allegation brought against the police of torturing Babu.
"No such complaint has been made yet. He was not tortured. He was despondent after he had been taken to the police station," Rubaiyat said.
