GRISLY GANG-RAPE AND MURDER OF A MINORITY WOMAN IN MORELGANJ, BAGERHAT

TRAUMATISED HUSBAND OF SABITA HALDER FEARS FURTHER ATTACK AS “GENERAL DIARY”  (G.D.) IS FILED

JANAKANTHA’S APPEAL ON JUNE 7, 2003 FOR INVESTIGATION CAUSES OUTARGE ACROSS BANGLADESH (Translated for HRCBM by Basu Bose)

Please click here for Bengali version of the news.

(The Daily Janakantha, Sunday, June 08, 2003: Reported by Babul Sardar after his return from Ramchandrapur village in Bagerhat).

ecently married Sabita Halder, (a young minority woman) was visiting her parent’s family home in the rural village of Bahorbunia in Morelganj in Bagerhat district. She was there with her husband, Pijush, and their six-month-old son Pintu. That’s when the terror struck, and her young life was cut short by a group of brutal gang rapists and murderers.

usband Pijush is now traumatized and gravely ill. Baby Pintu lies in near comatose. The baby cried out loud once whilst his mother was gang raped. The savages picked him up and threw him down on the hard floor- he is now in a critical condition. The child and the husband were two witnesses to the acts of ultimate violence and gruesome slaughter by a large group of messengers from hell who descended upon Sabita in the early hours of Thursday morning.

ijush faced further threats, after the incident, from this notorious gang of criminals. As a result he could not complete the last rites due to the dead woman. He opted to return home- guarding his baby son close to his chest- making the perilous journey back home before the sunset on Thursday. Subsequently he remained terrified. On Saturday he filed a G.D. with the local Zianagar police station on the gang rape and murder of his wife. Therein he also noted that those responsible (for the heinous crime) could strike again because of this G.D.

uthor  of  this report first went to Bahorbunia (in Morelganj) on Friday looking for the murdered woman’s husband and son. As he could not find them there, he started making inquiries and then took a long and difficult journey across waterways and muddy terrain of over 45 km before he eventually reached the remote village, Ramchandrapur, in Zianagar. This small village within Ferozepur district has a large concentration of minority families. Soon after he arrived at the Halder family house adjacent to the local Hindu temple, hundreds of villagers of all ages begun to assemble there. He noticed a half naked slim young man lying on the ground floor balcony of the family house. Next to him laid a tiny child- pale and semi-conscious. He realized later that they were the husband and son of Sabita Halder.

ocals  carried Pijush and then made him sit down on a small bench in the court yard of their family home. For quite a while-as he was being asked questions, no responses were heard- except his blank stares. Once when his son Pintu was put on his lap, he broke down into tears. After some time when his tears subsided a little, many of the details of the horror started to emerge from his talks. The husband, wife and the child- three of them were lying down on the back balcony of Sabita’s parental home. No one else was there in the room in front of the back balcony. It was after midnight Wednesday, and in the early hours of Thursday morning around 2/2.30 am. A group

of 12 to 14 armed men (wearing masks) entered the house by breaking open the front door. As a safety measure- that door was surrounded on its outside with rings of some metal pipes.

hey  started looking for Litton Sadial, Sabita’s younger brother whilst loudly hurling profanities around the place. Then they started beating him and swearing at him- asking insulting questions to him as to why he hadn’t done this or done that instead of staying at the house perhaps, to build up a legal case against them, and, so on. Then they started looting any valuables inside the house, and pushed him along to the back balcony holding a gun onto his head. Once they saw Sabita there, they ripped parts of her outer clothing and used it to tie him (Pijush) up to a pillar supporting the house.

abita, who was holding on to her son, was then picked up and thrown on the bed Two men in the group held her down (spread eagle)  on the bed- one pressing down her hands  and the other man pressing down her legs The rest of the gang then preyed upon her by after tying a piece of clothe around her mouth. At one point whilst this terror was going on- the baby cried out loud. They picked him up and hurled him on to the hard floor to stop the noise until he fell unconscious. Pijush could hear his wife’s groaning at times. Later on there was a huge scream that was followed by a deafening silence.

ijush  broke down again as he said that at one point he had also heard some of these men went out of the house and called out the names of “Saiddul” and “Razzak”.  He thought then the savage torture and serial rapes of Sabita was still going on. Those called also left after that. As he was trying to break free and was desperate to move away, he fell down into the ground below. And started to yell. On hearing him, two neighbors rushed towards him along with his brother in law, Liton. More people came later.

fter   listening to him, the Halder family home seemed like a suffocating place as so many people present there were breathing in such a confined area. Several of the minority women and men present (Kamola, Sandhya, Gouranga, Subodh, Maloti, Molina, Sikha, Luna, Gita, Arati, Madhavi and others) demanded that these barbaric criminals should be hanged. Pijush pointed out at his ailing son and asked, “How am I going to save him..?”   When the learnt that so far the police have not been able to catch and detain these murderers, they panicked. They thought those men could also unleash their terror in the village, Ramchandrapur, where they now live.

ncident of this heinous crime was reported in detail by Pijush in a G.D. filed at the Zianagar police station Besides describing the serial gang rape on and slaughter of his wife Sabita, he has alerted the police that he was fearful that those mafia-like fanatics could trail him and strike him (and the baby) down at his own home (and silence him) in his own village.

Eanwhile, the Saturday issue of The Daily Janakantha (June 7, 2003) carried a public appeal for an investigation of this savage gang rape and murder of Sabita Halder in Bahorbunia in Morelganj. The publication of this appeal caused quite a stir amongst the readers all around the country. All copies were sold out within two to three hours of delivery people hitting the streets. As of now, the photocopies of the same were circulated around the villages. And following the Janakantha appeal, both Bagerhat District Magistrate, and the Chief of Police rushed into the scene of the gang rape and murder of Sabita Halder. Faxed reports on behalf of the District Magistrate were also sent to the Cabinet Division and the Home Ministry Office.

istrict Magistrate, Pious Costa, stated that further steps will follow to discuss and check whether the whole incident was adequately documented or not. His message was clear- no matter how powerful and influential these criminals are- they would be brought to justice. Morelganj’s Deputy Police Superintendent Abdul Baten announced that efforts are going on for quickly apprehending and detaining those responsible for committing this crime.

Please read " The Human Rights Tribune"