The man who raped a Dhaka University student in Kurmitola was a serial rapist and a mugger, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) said.
“Moznu (the arrestee) choked the victim (DU student) and dragged her to a nearby bush. He hit the girl and tried to kill her after rape,” said Director (Media) of the RAB headquarters Lt Col Sarwar Bin Kashem.
During initial interrogation, he has admitted to being a serial rapist and a drug addict.
“Moznu, 30, hailing from Hatia, used to rape physically challenged women and beggars,” Lt Col Sarwar told reporters at the Karwan Bazar media centre.
The rapist was arrested from Dhaka’s Sheora rail crossing area at around 4:05 a.m. RAB recovered the mobile phone of the victim and some other items belonging to her from Moznu.
The DU student was raped in the city’s Kurmitola area on Sunday (Jan 5) night. She is now undergoing treatment at the One-Stop Crisis Centre of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
After the incident, DU students blocked Shahbagh intersection for two hours on Monday and gave the authorities a 24-hour ultimatum for arresting the rapist. They protested on Tuesday too.
On Monday, the victim informed police that the perpetrator was alone while her father filed a case with the Cantonment Police Station.
The rapist told RAB that he had come to Dhaka about a decade ago. He lost his front teeth after falling off a train 12 years ago.
“The victim told us that the rapist did not have front teeth. This helped us identify the offender,” the RAB officer said.
Moznu became a serial rapist after the death of his wife. He used to work as a hawker and sometimes mugged people, said Lt Col Sarwar.
After raping and snatching the mobile handset of the DU student, Mojnu sold it to a woman named Aruna, who resold it to Khairul.
“We tracked the victim’s phone and detained Khairul from Sheora and then Aruna. We arrested Mojnu from Shewra on early Wednesday based on information given by her,” the RAB officer said.
The arrestees will be handed over to the Investigation Officer of the case.
