Child tied up and assaulted inside mosque during Taraweeh prayers

Local Correspondent

An incident of a child being tied up and assaulted inside a mosque during Taraweeh prayers has been reported in Charfashion, Bhola.

The incident occurred on Friday, March 14, during Taraweeh prayers.

An unidentified youth took a 10-year-old madrasa student to the third floor of the Khasmahal Jame Mosque under the pretext of taking him for a ride and then assaulted him. The victim was rescued and admitted to Bhola Sadar Hospital for treatment.

The victim’s home is in Char Manika Union under South Aicha Police Station in Charfashion Upazila. The child is a fourth-grade student at a madrasa in Charfashion Upazila.

According to eyewitnesses, around 9:00 PM on Friday, the child was found naked and bleeding on the stairs of the mosque’s third floor. A neighbor who came to the mosque for Taraweeh prayers noticed the child and informed the parents. The parents took the child to Charfashion Upazila Health Complex, where the on-duty doctor provided initial treatment and referred him to Bhola 250-bed General Hospital for advanced treatment. He was admitted to the hospital on Saturday.

The child’s mother said, “We live in a rented house in Charfashion Municipality area due to my son’s studies. This incident happened to my son inside the mosque. After regaining consciousness, my son said he went to the mosque to look for his cousin. When he couldn’t find him, he stood near the mosque. A man on a motorcycle started circling around him and offered him a ride, asking him to sit in front.”

“Later, he took him to the third floor of Khasmahal Mosque, removed his panjabi, tied his mouth, removed his pajama, and tied his hands. Then he stripped him naked, committed the heinous act, and left. My son has injury marks all over his body and pain in his private parts.”

The child’s father said, “We have obtained CCTV footage of the incident. My son has been subjected to inhuman torture. I demand exemplary punishment for the accused from the administration so that no other child has to face such an incident.”

Charfashion Thana Police Station’s Officer-in-Charge (OC), Md. Mizanur Rahman, said, “We have heard about the incident. We are investigating and trying to identify the perpetrator.”