Rape and Murder of Sohagi Jahan Tonu refers to the gang rape and murder of Sohagi Jahan Tonu, a Bangladeshi student, by unknown person(s). [1] [2]
Tonu was a 19-year-old student of Comilla Victoria College. [3] Her father was an employee of Comilla Cantonment board. [4] Her dead body was found on 20 March 2016 in Comilla Cantonment. [5] She had gone to study at a private tutors place when she disappeared. [6]
Tonu's father Lalu, also known as Kalu, filed a murder case with Kotwali Model Police Station in Comilla against individuals. The police transferred the case to Detective Branch. [7] The case was handed out to the Criminal Investigation Department on 1 April 2016. The first autopsy found no evidence of rape or murder, which was released on 4 April 2016. [8] The report created controversy. Bangladesh High Court ordered a second autopsy. [3] The initial autopsy was conducted in Chittagong Medical College. [9] She was buried in Mirzapur, in Muradnagar Upazila, Comilla District. [10]
The second autopsy conducted in Comilla Medical College Hospital did find evidence of rape. [11] A DNA test conducted under the Criminal Investigation Department found evidence of rape through DNA testing in May 2016. [5] Semen from three men was found in Tonu's underwear by the crime lab of CID. [12]
CID quizzed an army officer's son, Piyal, who allegedly had harassed her several times. [13] CID also interrogated two army personnel. [14]
Tonu's parents claimed that an army sergeant named Zahid and his wife were involved in the incident. However, no such persons were interrogated by the authorities. [15] [16]
Even after 4 years of investigation, authorities were unable to make any headway. [17] [18]
On October 21, 2020, the Criminal Investigation Department handed the case over to PBI. [19]
The murder created nationwide protests in Bangladesh and stated a social media movement. [20] [21] Protests took places in campuses all over Bangladesh and Bangladesh Students' Union led a protest towards the Prime Ministers office. [22] [23]