One arrested over rape of nine-year-old in Tangail

Police last night arrested one accused in connection with a case filed over the rape of a nine-year-old in Tangail's Mirzapur upazila on February 24.

The arrestee is Firoz Miah, 45, of Kuripara village under Asgana union.

Mosharaf Hossain, officer-in-charge of Mirzapur Police Station, told The Daily Star that acting on a tip-off, a police team arrested Firoz from Gazipur's Chandra area around 11:30pm.

A drive is on to arrest the other accused in the case, he added.

Earlier on March 8, the victim's mother filed the case with the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act at Mirzapur Police Station against Firoz and four others.

In the case statement, it was stated that the child recently went to visit their maternal grandmother's house. The incident took place while the victim was collecting fruits from a tree.

Accused Firoz recorded a video of the rape and threatened to kill the child if anyone found out about the incident, the case statement said.

After returning home, the victim informed their family members about the incident. Later, the neighbours came to know about the matter and after a week, some elderly persons of the village organised an arbitration to cover up the incident.

At the arbitration, Firoz was fined Tk 1.5 lakh and the child's mother was forced to accept the arbitration verdict, the case statement said.