*DHAKA: *Two policemen have been disciplined after a rape victim’s familysaid she was forced to marry one of the accused rapists in a policestation, officials said on Tuesday.
The mother-of-three had accused five men of confining her to a room andsexually assaulting her multiple times between August 29 and August 31 inthe northern district of Pabna, Bangladesh.
But her brother told the national *Daily Star* newspaper this week thatofficers at the police station forced her to sign documents divorcing herhusband and marrying the main suspect.
The marriage allegedly took place when she first tried to file thecomplaint last week.
Police officials on Thursday said the marriage appeared to be part of aneffort to prevent the suspects from being prosecuted.
“We have suspended sub-inspector Ekramul Haq for helping the marriagebetween the victim and one of her suspected rapists, who is also the chiefaccused,” deputy police chief of Pabna, Mohammad ibne Mizan, said.
“We have also withdrawn the officer-in-charge of Pabna Sadar police stationfrom his duty after he allowed the marriage to take place in the policestation compound.”
Read Top Stories
Police did not say how long Haq was suspended for and where the otherofficer was to be transferred to.
Four people linked to the assault — including three of the suspectedrapists — have been arrested, he added.
One of the accused is a low-level official of the ruling Awami Leagueparty, the *Daily Star* said.
Rights groups say gang-rapes have increased in the country in recent years.Many blame the country’s weak criminal justice system, which sees very fewconvictions in rape cases. -APP/AFP
