Women allegedly molested on running bus

Allegations have glared up that two women passengers were assaulted and raped on a bus running on the Dhaka-Rajshahi route on Monday night (17 February 2025). Several passengers have complained that the bus was under forced occupation of a gang of robbers for around three hours and a half.
Local police force arrested the bus driver, conductor and supervisor based on complaints from passengers. The detainees were handed over to court who secured bail later on reportedly.

BBC Bangla spoke to a few passengers who were travelling by the above bus on Monday. These two passengers have told BBC correspondents that at least two women were raped on the running bus. Since the bus was running, these two passengers named a few places like Boraigram in Natore and Tangail's Mirzapore. Exact locations could not be identified since the bus was on the move. Officers-in-Charge (OC) of Boraigram and Mirzapore police stations have informed BBC that they have received no allegations about rape on that particular night. Both police officers told BBC that so far no rape case was filed over the above complaints. A businessman called Shohag Hasan (22) and his companion Omar Ali were travelling by this bus. According to them, the bus driver and his assistants picked up seven or eight people middle of the way though the bus was packed up with passengers. These seven or eight people intimidated passengers with knives and told the bus driver to turn off all lights, Shohag Hasan told journalists. The robbers stabbed five or six passengers with sharp weapons, which is why other passengers remained totally mute and held their heads down to avoid attacks from the robbers. The robbers snatched away all the money they found with Sohag Hasan and Omar Ali. Moreover, the robbers allegedly raped two women on the bus. Those two women were screaming, Shohag Hasan said.
 
The robbers kicked and punched a few male passengers who attempted to save the rape victims. Another molasses trader Maznu Mia was also travelling by the same bus. He said "Women were molested on the bus. The victims cried out for help but nobody dared to come up to do anything to restrain the robbers from physically assaulting those two female passengers."
 
Reportedly one of the tormented women was around 20 years old while another female passenger was aged between 25 to 30 years. One of the rape victims was a Hindu woman, another passenger reported.

>>BBC