Teenager arrested over knife attack on schoolgirl in Kushtia

Police have arrested the schoolboy accused of stabbing SSC examinee Zakia Sultana, 16, in broad daylight in Kushtia town. The teenager, who had been on the run since the attack, was arrested from Patikabari in Kushtia Sadar upazila at around 1 a.m. on Monday night.

Kushtia Superintendent of Police Aminul Islam confirmed the arrest. He said the accused in the stabbing was arrested from the Patikabari area.

Police sources said raids had been carried out in various places to arrest the teenager since the incident. As part of that effort, a raid in Patikabari late on Monday night led to his arrest.

The attack took place at around 1:30 p.m. on Monday, 9 November, in the Crescent Club lane of Thanapara in Ward 2 of Kushtia municipality. Zakia had returned home after sitting a test examination and was waiting at the gate for it to be opened when a teenager came from behind and stabbed her repeatedly with a sharp knife in different parts of her body.

Hearing Zakia’s screams, local people rushed to the spot, and the attacker dropped the knife and fled. Locals rescued the seriously injured girl and admitted her to the 250-bed Kushtia General Hospital. She suffered multiple wounds on her body and hands.

Resident Medical Officer Dr Iqbal Hossain of the hospital said Zakia was now out of danger.

The entire attack was captured on a CCTV camera at the scene. The footage shows a teenager in a black shirt running up to Zakia as she stood in front of her house and attacking her with a knife, before dropping the weapon and fleeing when he noticed locals arriving.

Zakia’s family alleges that the teenager from Mojompur had been harassing her for a long time. He had been bothering her in various ways since she began attending coaching classes. When the matter was raised with his family, the harassment stopped for a while. The family believes the attack was planned because the complaint had been made to his guardians.

Zakia’s mother, Sumi Akter, said the boy had harassed her daughter in various ways for a long time. After the matter was reported to his guardians, he stopped bothering her for some time. On Monday her daughter was waiting at the gate after her examination when the boy attacked her with a knife with the intention of killing her. “We want a fair trial in this incident,” she said.

After the incident, the accused teenager and his mother left their flat in the five-storey Lily Garden building near Tentultala field on Mafiz Uddin Biswas Lane in Purba Mojompur. The flat has been empty since Monday. Police later arrested him from their village home in Patikabari late on Monday night.

Local sources said the teenager is the son of Abbas Uddin of Patikabari. His family began living in Purba Mojompur about 20 years ago. His father has been living in Saudi Arabia for a long time, and his elder brother Akash is in the Netherlands. He is the younger of the two brothers.

According to neighbours, the accused is a tenth-grade student at a private school. He changed schools after failing in class several times. His movement and socialising in the area were limited.

Mufti Amir Hamza, the member of parliament for Kushtia-3, expressed concern and anger over the daylight stabbing of a schoolgirl. In a Facebook post on Monday night, he demanded a proper investigation, that those involved be brought under the law, and that women’s safety be ensured.