A seven-year-old girl, identified as Ramisa Akhter, has been sexually assaulted and subsequently murdered inside a residential apartment building in the Pallabi locality of Dhaka. The victim, a second-grade student, resided in a rented flat within the building along with her father, mother, and elder sister. According to the formal findings released by the police administration, the minor was targeted after she left her family apartment to follow her older sibling, at which point an adjacent tenant forcibly pulled her into his residence to commit the assault and subsequent homicide.
The fatal sequence of events commenced on Tuesday morning, 19 May, at approximately 10:30 am. The victim’s elder sister, Raisa Akhter, a ninth-grade student, left the family flat with the intention of visiting her uncle’s residence, located across the nearby street. Because the younger sibling consistently insisted on accompanying her, Raisa attempted to elude her by instructing her to remain inside and then quietly closing the door. Realising her sister had departed, Ramisa opened the apartment door shortly afterwards to follow her path, placing her directly in the communal corridor where the occupant of the opposite flat, 30-year-old Sohel Rana, forcibly detained her.
Family Describes Initial Disappearance And Unresponsive Neighbours
The victim’s family members detailed the timeline of the disappearance, noting that they initially assumed the two sisters were together at the relative’s home. It was only after Raisa returned from her uncle’s flat alone that the parents realised Ramisa was missing. The family immediately initiated a comprehensive search operation throughout the multi-storey building, systematically knocking on the doors of every residential unit.
During this search, the residents of the opposite flat, identified as Sohel Rana and his 26-year-old wife, Spovna Akhter, refused to open their main door to the searching family. Speaking to news reporters, the elder sister, Raisa Akhter, recalled her final interactions with the victim prior to the assault:
“My uncle’s house is located just across the street. I was heading to his residence, and my younger sister insisted on coming with me. I explicitly told her to return indoors, left her inside the room, and stepped out. I did not notice that she had opened the door to follow behind me down the corridor. It was at that precise moment outside our doorway that the man forcibly grabbed her and dragged her inside his flat. She screamed out loud, and our mother actually heard the sound from within our home.”
Mother Accounts For Overlooked Distress Signal In Corridor
The victim’s mother, Parvin Akhter, expressed profound distress regarding the overlooked audio cue that occurred directly outside her threshold. She explained that while she distinctly heard a child’s scream in the hallway, she assumed it was a standard interaction between her two daughters as they walked together towards their uncle’s house.
Parvin Akhter stated that her suspicion was only aroused when her elder daughter returned completely unaccompanied, prompting an immediate search. She noted that while every other resident in the building cooperated fully and opened their doors to assist, the apartment occupied by Sohel Rana remained completely locked and unresponsive. The mother further clarified that the family had zero prior interactions or disputes with the suspect, noting that Rana and his wife had only moved into the building as tenants a few months prior.
Following the formal recovery of the victim’s body and the subsequent police investigation, local residents assembled outside the building near the Millat Camp area on Wednesday. The citizens hung a large protest banner from the main entrance gates, publicly demanding exemplary punishment and the public execution of the perpetrators. Law enforcement authorities have taken the principal suspect into custody, and formal criminal proceedings regarding sexual assault and the destruction of evidence are currently being processed by the Pallabi police.