Teenager tortured in Rajshahi for alleged theft

A teenager was tied to a tree and tortured for allegedly stealing fish from a pond in Charghat of Rajshahi on Friday noon.

Zahirul Islam, the owner of the pond, is accused of torturing the victim, an eighth-grade student of Uttar Maramatpur High School in the upazila.  Islam took pictures of the scene and spread them on social media after torturing the boy.

The teenager was tied to a tree on the bank of a pond near Maramatpur Primary School in the upazila on Friday afternoon and tortured. The family claims that an attempt was made to insert fish into the victim's anus.

According to locals, the victim went to Zahirul Islam's pond at noon to take a bath. A few more teenagers were there in the pond. When Zahirul arrived at the pond, the other teenagers fled from the place. Zahirul then grabbed the victim, accused him of stealing fish, and tied him to a tree near the pond and tortured him.

After being tied up for an hour, locals rescued the boy and admitted him to Charghat Upazila Health Complex.

Charghat police station Officer-in-Charge (OC), Jahangir Alam, said the victim's father logged a case the night of the incident. Police arrested Zahirul from his house the same night.

"Zahirul has been accused of torturing the teen. A section of the Information Technology Act has also been applied against Zahirul for posting photos of the torture on social media," he said.