Pallabi teacher's rape, murder reveal a crime saga
Star Report
The room at Pallabi's Kalapani area where Fatema Khatun Kohinoor was gang-raped and burnt to death Friday had long been used as a hangout by local hoodlums, residents of the area said.Local people however remained tight-lipped about the identities of the hoodlums, apparently for fear of reprisal. They only said that in the past many women, mostly female garment workers living in the impoverished and congested Kalapani area to avail of its cheap house rent, were picked up by local criminals and brought into the room to be raped. Sitting on top of a row of four one-room accommodations and accessed only through a corridor, the makeshift room has long been abandoned by its owner Shahidul Islam, a dairy trader. The empty room with an iron ladder leading to it and a wooden bed inside became a magnet for criminals. At around 5:30pm last Thursday, the hoodlums abducted Kohinoor on her way home from a tutorial job and brought her to the room. After raping her, they doused her with flammable liquid and set fire to her body early Friday morning. Billowing smoke from the room alerted the night guards who awoke the residents. Pallabi Police have so far arrested five people including Shahidul Islam and his two sons in connection with the brutal murder. Kohinoor, third of six brothers and one sister, took up a private tuition job only a month ago to support her family and was yet to get her salary. Parul Akhtar, mother of Kohinoor's student, said she never missed a day of work. The third-floor apartment of Kohinoor's family was crowded yesterday with mourning relatives. Her brothers said the family was devastated by the loss of their beloved sister. "We told police about a money-related dispute we had with some people. Now we see police have made them the principal accused in the case," said a distant relative of Kohinoor. Pallabi Police however seemed puzzled about the murder that took place hardly 500 metres from the police station. Second Officer Atiqur Rahman said the killing had shocked many at the station and that police are determined to unearth the crime. "We are working on a few tips and hopefully we will soon be able to trace the criminals involved in the heinous attack on this innocent woman," Atiqur Rahman said.
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