Doctors find evidence of schoolgirl’s rape in Khagrachhari

Doctors have found evidence of sexual assault on the schoolgirl from the Tripura community who was raped allegedly by her teacher in Khagrachhari on Tuesday, said police.
Now, the DNA samples collected from both the student and the teacher, who was beaten to death following the incident, will be cross-matched, a senior police official told this newspaper today, citing doctors involved with the process.
On Tuesday, a seventh-grade female student of Khagrachari Technical School and College was admitted to a hospital with injuries that suggested she might have been raped, a doctor had told The Daily Star.
As the news of the rape allegation against Abul Hasnat Muhammad Sohail Rana, 48, a teacher at the school, spread, students and guardians started protesting.
The protesters, mostly from the indigenous communities, confined Rana to the principal’s office when suddenly, 10-15 students entered the room and attacked him.
Later, police rescued Rana and took him to Khagrachhari Sadar Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival around 2:00pm.
Soon after his death, tensions between groups of Bangalee and indigenous people erupted, during which a hospital was vandalised and multiple houses and shops were looted and torched in several areas, including Mahajanpara and Pankhaiya Para.
The attacks on properties and some locals happened even after the authorities around 3:00pm imposed Section 144, which prohibits gathering of four or more people.
Later, Section 144 was withdrawn as tension eased from Wednesday afternoon.
Wishing to remain unnamed, an additional superintendent of police of the district told The Daily Star, “The doctors have given us verbal confirmation of rape. However, we have yet to receive a written report from the hospital in this regard.
“The DNA samples, collected from both the victim and the teacher, will now be cross-matched as the next course of action.”
“The body of Sohel Rana has been handed over to his family member after an autopsy. However, his family is not willing to file any case. If they don’t file a case, then the police will have to lodge one,” added the officer.
Earlier on February 25, 2021, teacher Rana was sent to jail for trying to rape a 10th-grader. He returned to work after he was released.
Meanwhile, the probe committee formed by the district administration to investigate the rape, the mob killing, and the subsequent violence that ensued, has started its investigation.
Additional District Magistrate Rozlin Shahid Chowdhury told The Daily Star “We have started our investigation. As our investigation is ongoing, I cannot make further comments on that subject.”
Despite the apparent return to normalcy in Khagrachhari following Tuesday’s clashes and violence, the local market remained devoid of indigenous traders today.
At the biweekly bazaar that sits in Sadar area on Mondays and Thursdays, only Bangalee traders were present today.
Locals said indigenous people were preferring to sell their produce within their own communities instead of bringing it to the central market.