Police have arrested two young men in connection with the rape of a pregnant beautician after she went to provide home service in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi.
Riyad, 24, and Yasin Hossain Siam, 23, were arrested on gangrape charges on Thursday afternoon, law enforcers said in a statement.
Another suspect is still at large, according to Deputy Commissioner Azimul Haque, reports bdnews24.com.
The incident occurred at Riyad's residence in Surkrabad. He hired another woman to contact the beautician, said Md Mahmud Khan, an assistant commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Tejgaon zone.
“The three involved in the rape have been identified. Among them, Riyad is a student at New Model Degree College. But the law enforcers have yet to identify the woman who contacted the victim for home service.”
The initial investigation suggests Riyad is an influential person in the area and often rides through the area on a motorcycle with his friends. He is known as ‘TikTok Riyad’, police say.
“Police identified Riyad’s house with the victim’s assistance on Wednesday night. It is situated under Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Thana,” said Ikram Ali Mia, chief of Dhanmondi Police Station.
“Riyad, along with his friends, raped the woman. The victim said she heard others addressing a man as Riyad during the incident.”
“Riyad lives in the house with his parents and a sister, but they were not present during the incident. But the victim said she sensed an elderly woman’s presence in the next room. TikTok video recording equipment was also found in the house,” Mahmud said.
The victim lives with her husband in Savar. Her husband is an Uber driver and she became a beautician to provide additional financial support to the family by offering services via Facebook.
According to the account the victim gave to the police, she was called to Dhanmondi Road No. 28 on Tuesday evening. Upon arriving there, a woman led her to the first floor of a building, where three young men were waiting.
The men threatened her and beat her up before raping her, the woman alleged. After they let her go, she called her husband, who took her back home to Savar.
The husband said she became pregnant after they were married seven months ago.
“The woman who contacted the beautician handed her over to the men and left the house after receiving a payment from Riyad. The suspects were carrying arms as well,” the husband said, citing the victim.
“The incident lasted nearly two hours from 8 pm to 10 pm,” according to the victim.
“The couple was attending an invitation at a friend’s house when the beautician was contacted for the home service. The victim, who is now five months pregnant, went to Dhanmondi with her husband’s permission,” one of the victim’s friends said.
With advice from relatives, the victim was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital's One-Stop Crisis Centre early on Wednesday.