A 16-year-old girl was allegedly raped by five to seven youths after she asked them for directions to reach her grandmother's house in Natore on Thursday.
Police claimed to have arrested five of the youths in the early hours of Friday.
The girl left her home in Naldanga upazila on Thursday noon after a disageement with her mother, said Natore Sadar police station Officer-in-Charge Munsur Rahman.
"However, she lost her way in the Chatni union of Natore Sadar upazila in the evening while on her way to her grandmother's house. When she asked the accused youths for help, they took her to a deserted cremation ground and raped her," the OC said.
Locals spotted the girl in the late hours of Thursday and dialled 999. They also caught five of the youth and handed them over to the police.
However, two other accused managed to escape in the dark, the locals said.
Bangladesh's rape epidemic
A total of 3,703 women and girls were subjected to different forms of violence including rape and murder in 2021, according to a report of Bangladesh Mohila Parishad.
Some 1,235 females were raped in the last year. Of them, 1,028 females including 629 girls were raped, 179 females including 62 girls were gang raped and 31 females including 22 girls were killed after rape, said the report published on January 3.
Bangladesh Mohila Parishad President Dr Fouzia Moslem and its General Secretary Maleka Banu presented the report at a press briefing in the city.
The organisation compiled the statistics based on the reports published in13 newspapers.
According to the report, 155 females including 93 girls were subjected to rape attempt while 33 females including 14 girls were subjected to sexual assault.
95 females including 62 girl children faced sexual harassment.
