Police in Netrokona’s Kendua upazila have arrested a suspect following allegations that a local politician belonging to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led the repeated gang rape of a teenage schoolgirl. The victim, a Year 10 pupil, is currently six months pregnant. Whilst one accomplice has been remanded in custody, law enforcement agencies are actively hunting for the primary suspect, who remains on the run.
The key accused, 50-year-old Bokul Miah, holds key local political portfolios as the Assistant Joint General Secretary of the Kendua Pourashava BNP and General Secretary of the Ward No. 5 BNP unit. Police records confirm that the victim’s father lodged a formal complaint at Kendua Police Station on Tuesday night. The case names five individuals alongside several unidentified suspects. Following a swift police operation, officers arrested the second-named suspect, 36-year-old Abu Miah, whilst Bokul Miah absconded.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) and statements provided by the victim’s family, the systematic abuse began nearly four years ago when the victim was a Year 6 pupil. On 20 November 2022, Bokul Miah lured the young girl to an isolated property and sexually assaulted her. During the assault, he recorded illicit video footage on a mobile phone. He subsequently used this footage alongside threats of violence against her family to blackmail her into silence.
The coercion escalated over the following years. The FIR detailed that around March or April 2025, a female associate of Bokul Miah orchestrated the pupil’s transport to a rented flat. There, under Bokul Miah’s direction, multiple men subjected her to gang rape. This pattern of systemic abuse persisted from January through July of this year across various locations.
The ordeal came to light after explicit video footage was circulated on social media platforms on 1 August. Distressed by the material, the family confronted the situation and took the teenager to a private medical clinic on 18 August. Ultrasonography results confirmed that she was six months pregnant. Speaking through tears, the teenager recounted how Bokul Miah and Abu Miah repeatedly trafficked her to various properties under threat of exposing the footage, demanding exemplary justice for her attackers.
Addressing the involvement of a party official, Moazzem Hossain, General Secretary of Kendua Pourashava BNP, stated that the organisation had been informed of the heinous crime. He emphasised that the party would not shelter any offender and assured that strict disciplinary measures would be enforced against Bokul Miah.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Kendua Police Station, Md Tariqul Islam, confirmed that the arrested suspect, Abu Miah, has been forwarded to court and subsequently remanded in custody. Medical examinations for the victim and further legal proceedings are currently underway. Multiple police teams have been deployed across the region to locate and apprehend Bokul Miah and the remaining suspects.
