In Pabna, accused child rapist-killer's demolished house is stripped of its very soil; a pond will take its place

In Kulonia village of Dogachhi union in Pabna Sadar upazila, after the house of Mostafa Kamal — the main accused in the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl — was demolished, angry locals are now carting away even the soil of the plot. They say a pond will be dug where the house stood.

The demolition began on Friday 18 September after Juma prayers and was still continuing on Saturday 24 October. The two-storey house has been reduced to rubble — there is no way to tell a house ever stood there.

Visiting the spot on Saturday noon, it was seen that even the foundation rods beneath the soil had been cut away and taken. Bricks and sand were carried off by vehicle and sold elsewhere, several local residents said.

Salim Pramanik, a worker cutting away the soil, said: 'We did not spare Mostafa's house as punishment for the sin he committed. Now we are using its soil for roads and homes. We will make a pond here.'

Rubel Hasan of Madhpur in Ataikula, who took part in the demolition, said: 'No trace of rapist and killer Mostafa's house will remain. Let alone bricks, not a single grain of sand will be left here. A pond will come up — kept as a reminder of what happens to a rapist.'

It began on 9 September, when third-grader Kamrunnahar Koli went missing from home after dusk. Seven days later, on the morning of 16 September, her body was recovered in a sack from a pond beside the house in Kulonia village.

Police arrested neighbour Mostafa Kamal and his tenant Yasin Ali over the incident. Police say Koli was raped and strangled in a room behind Mostafa's shop after Maghrib on 9 September, and the body was then sacked and dumped in the pond.

Police also say the accused themselves joined the search for Koli to cover up the crime. On remand, Mostafa confessed to the rape and murder, police claim, while Yasin denied rape or murder but admitted helping afterwards. Evidence has been sent to the forensic department.

The stripping of the site down to its soil has caused a sensation in the area. At the same time, the dead child's relatives have raised questions about the role of the police.

The family expressed frustration and anger that the investigation has still not ended in a chargesheet. The child's grandfather Abdus Sobhan said a chargesheet should have been filed by now and called the delay administrative negligence, demanding the investigation be finished quickly and the legal process moved forward.

Another relative, Ramjan Ali, said: 'The two-storey house was demolished piece by piece; the work is done, no trace of the house remains. Yet we hear the case paperwork is still unfinished. The trial should have begun by now. Our only demand to everyone is that a child's rape must not be sold for money.' He said the police administration must work sincerely.

Pabna district Detective Branch (DB) officer-in-charge Abdus Salam said: 'The case is progressing. I have heard the forensic report has reached the hospital. We will submit the chargesheet very soon. There is no scope for negligence in the Koli rape-murder case.'

Police say the full report will be filed in court once the forensic findings are in hand. The family's wait is now for that chargesheet and the start of the trial.