Youth arrested for sexually abusing three-year-old in Motijheel

Police arrested a youth for allegedly sexually abusing a three-year-old boy in the city's Motijheel area today.

Shafiqul Islam Habib, 18, was arrested after the victim's family filed a case with Motijheel Police Station this afternoon.

The child was sent to the one-stop crisis centre in Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment and other tests, said Habiz Uddin, a duty officer of Motijheel Police Station.

The victim's father said he, along with his wife and son, live in the T&T colony and sell rice on the footpath. He employed Habib to help run the business on February 26.

Around 8:00pm on Tuesday, he went outside, leaving his wife, son and Habib in the house. Shortly afterward, the family found the boy and Habib missing.

"We searched everywhere but could not find them. We saw Habib coming out of a bush in the colony around 10:30pm. Habib kept mum when everyone asked him about the boy. Later we found the baby lying in an unconscious state," the father told reporters at DMCH.

The boy was taken to DMCH that night but taken back home after primary treatment. As the boy fell ill, the family filed the case against Habib, police said.