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BANDARBAN: Police have arrested a leader of the National Citizen Party (NCP) over allegations that he raped a woman at a resort he owns in Bandarban district town.
He was arrested on Friday night. The accused, Shaikyasing Marma, is a joint convener of the NCP’s Bandarban district committee.
According to local sources, Marma owns a resort on a hill beside Balaghata Road in the district town. Around noon on Friday, local residents heard a woman screaming and crying from the resort. When they went there, they found the woman crying.
The woman told locals that Marma had brought her to the resort on the promise of marriage and raped her there. She alleged that when she later asked him to marry her, he refused. At one point, he allegedly tried to force her out of the resort. After hearing her account, local residents advised her to approach the police.
Officer-in-Charge of Bandarban Sadar Police Station Masud Parvez said police took the woman from the resort to the station after learning about the incident. After hearing her account in detail, they arrested Marma.
The woman has filed a case under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, with herself as the complainant.
The OC said Marma would be produced before a court on Saturday. The woman would also be sent to Bandarban Sadar Hospital for a medical examination.
Asked about the arrest, Mong Sa Pru Chowdhury, convener of the NCP’s Bandarban district committee, said the party was investigating the matter. He added that the party was also looking into whether anyone had conspired to tarnish Marma’s and the NCP’s reputations.
He said the party would take organisational action against Marma if the allegations were found to be true.
