Rape threat on moving bus sparks outrage, driver, assistant held
A horrific incident aboard a moving bus in Gazipur has triggered public outrage after police arrested two people for allegedly threatening a woman with rape inside the vehicle.
The accused, the driver of a ‘Victor Classic’ bus and his assistant, were detained on the day of the incident in Tongi.
Tongi West Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Shahin Khan confirmed that both suspects admitted to the allegations during preliminary interrogation.
The bus has been seized and filing of a a case is now underway.
According to the victim’s complaint, the ordeal unfolded on Thursday, January 1, while she was travelling from Uttara’s BNS area to Hossain Market in Tongi. She was seated in the reserved women’s seat beside the driver. The woman is the wife of Md Nayeem Islam, a 16th batch student of the History department at Jagannath University.
The complaint alleges that after the woman mentioned her family’s link to Jagannath University, the driver began making obscene comments.
When her husband tried to record the situation near a traffic police box in front of Safiuddin Sarkar Academy, the driver allegedly shoved him against the window and threw away his mobile phone.
The situation escalated further when the driver reportedly refused to stop the bus despite repeated pleas and threatened the woman with rape inside the vehicle. A fellow passenger intervened, leading to a scuffle with the driver and his assistant.
The bus eventually stopped at Hossain Market, where passengers helped the woman get off safely. However, the passenger who intervened was later attacked with iron rods and seriously injured, according to the complaint.
With the help of local residents, the bus was later intercepted. While the main driver and his assistant initially managed to flee, another driver was detained and handed over to the police.
Nayeem filed a case with Tongi West Police Station on charges of threatening rape and attempted murder. He also alleged that around 3:30 am, 15 to 20 people identifying themselves as members of the bus owners’ association came to the police station and pressured the family to withdraw the case.
Adding to the controversy, Nayeem claimed that the accused driver had been released on bail just four days earlier in a drug-related case filed at Uttara East Police Station.
Police said investigations are ongoing and promised strict legal action as the case has raised serious concerns over passenger safety, particularly for women, on public transport.
With inputs from UNB