While the entire country curious about the murderer of a suspected rapist, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has announced that those behind the killing of three rape suspects will be brought to justice soon. He said, “We will find the killer of those suspected rapists in a little while. The ‘Hercules’ man will be detained soon following an inquiry. No-one is above the law. Rape is an offence; similarly, murder is another crime.”

The minister was speaking to journalists yesterday (Wednesday) on the occasion of the distribution of certificates to freedom fighters in Lalmatia Girls High School in the capital. At that time, media-persons wanted to know about ‘Hercules’.

Earlier, at least three persons were shot dead in two different areas as possible extrajudicial killings this year. A note was hung around each of their necks confessing their crimes. The last such victim, found on the first day of the month, had a note that indicated that the killer of the suspected rapist was someone called ‘Hercules’. People are posting critical articles on social media and the media in this respect.

On February 1, police recovered the body of a rape suspect, with a note hanging around his neck, in Jhalakathi’s Rajapur upazila, in the third such incident. The note read, “I am Rakib. I am the rapist of a madrasa girl of Bhandaria. This is the consequence of a rapist. Beware rapists—‘Hercules’.”

The slain man, Rakib Hossain, 20, stood accused in a case filed with Bhandaria police station in connection with the gang-rape of a madrasa student.