The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested Md Saidul Islam — the lone and prime accused of college student Rabeya Akhter murder case — from Tangail’s Bhuapur upazila.
Saidul, 25, went into hiding at his friend's house in Bhuapur to avoid arrest after murder of the 21-year-old woman on May 8, RAB Director (Legal and Media Wing) Commander Khandaker Al Moin said at a press conference held in the city’s RAB Media Centre on Thursday.
A team of the intelligence wing from the battalion headquarters and members of RAB-1 conducted a drive and apprehended the lone accused on Wednesday night, he said. The deceased victim’s father had filed a murder case with Gazipur Sadar police station on May 9.
During primary interrogation, Saidul said he was appointed to teach Arabic to Rabeya, her sisters and their mother during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. He claimed of developing a good relationship with Rabeya and verbally married her secretly in December of that year.
Later on, Saidul started pressuring Rabeya and her family to complete the marriage ceremony socially. As the family came to know about the matter, they stopped Rabeya’s contact with Saidul.
Rabeya also started avoiding Saidul as per the advice of her family members. She was also preparing to go abroad for higher education, the RAB official said.
Being unable to accept the matters, angry Saidul hacked Rabeya dead with a knife in a premeditated way. That time, Rabeya's two sisters and their mother were also injured as they tried to save her.
How did the event unfold?
RAB spokesperson Moin said Saidul had been pressuring Rabeya’s family for the last three years for the social recognition of that verbal marriage.
In October 2022, the victim’s family filed a complaint with Sadar police station about the harassment perpetrated by Saidul. Following the complaint, Saidul refrained from teasing Rabeya for some time, he said.
But for the last two months, he kept harassing Rabeya again on her way to and from the college and outside. He also threatened to kill her if she did not agree to his proposal, Moin further said.
On May 7, the accused ordered a blacksmith's shop in the local market to make a knife for Tk 650. The next day evening, he collected the knife and went to Rabeya’s house, he said.
Saidul hacked her head, neck, hands and legs with that sharp knife. At this time, her mother and two sisters rushed there to save her. He also hacked them indiscriminately and fled the scene, leaving all of them injured, the RAB official said.
Hearing their screams, locals went to the house, rescued and took them to Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College and Hospital where the on-duty doctor declared Rabeya dead.
Rabeya’s mother and her two sisters were later shifted to a hospital in Dhaka’s Uttara.
The RAB official said Saidul passed Dawra from a Chattogram madrasa. He was an imam of a local mosque in Gazipur and used to teach at a madrasa there. Besides, he also gave Arabic tuition to students at their houses. He quit both jobs two months ago.
