Police yesterday arrested one in connection with the gang-rape of a woman in Subarnachar upazila of Noakhali early Monday. The victim, aged 40 and a mother of four, claimed that 12-15 miscreants forced into her house 1am on Monday and “started abusing her and her husband for casting votes for ‘sheaf of paddy,’ the election symbol of BNP.”

At one stage, the intruders-- several of whom she has identified-- tied her husband and raped her outside, she said. They tried to kill me and my husband with sharp weapons when I was able to identify the attackers, she added. They left the place around 5am. The woman and her husband were later taken to the Noakhali general hospital. Police said the attack and the subsequent rape were the results of previous enmity.

Elias Sharif, superintendent of police in Noakhali, said the police suspects the incident took place of previous enmity and that they have arrested one Badsha over the incident.

We are working on identifying the accused, he added. Meanwhile, National Human Rights Commission formed an inquiry committee after it came to know about the incident from media reports, adds our Staff Reporter. NHRC director Al Mahmud Faizul Kabir will head the three-member committee.

“The commission also advised the Noakhali deputy commissioner to investigate the matter once it came to know from media reports that the woman has been raped for casting vote for the BNP in Sunday’s national polls,” according to a statement by the commission.