Jamalpur rape case falsely reported as 2004 incident
A news outlet named “Sangbad” recently published an online report about a rape case in Jamalpur, saying it occurred 20 years ago and that a court had sentenced three people to death. Online reports by Sarabangla and Jugantor also said the rape took place in 2004. However, a review of reports by multiple news outlets and the case’s first information report (FIR) found that the incident occurred on Oct. 19, 2024.
On August 31, a court sentenced three people, including a UP member, to death in a case filed over the abduction and gang rape of a woman. That same day, Sangbad published the report under the headline “Rape convict UP member sentenced to death after 20 years.”
“A court sentenced three people, including a Union Parishad (UP) member, to death for the gang rape of a housewife in Rashidpur, Jamalpur, nearly 20 years ago.” Referring to the rape as having occurred on the night of October 19, 2004, the report further said, “The prosecution and the victim’s family expressed satisfaction with the verdict delivered after two decades.”
Sangbad also posted the report on its Facebook page under the same headline.
In addition, reports published on Alokito Protidin’s YouTube channel and Facebook page claimed that the rape occurred 22 years ago.
Posts making the same claim also appeared on multiple personal Facebook profiles and pages (1, 2).
Reports by Sarabangla and Jugantor also referred to the incident as having occurred in 2004.
A search using relevant keywords found reports about the incident published by multiple news outlets (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) that stated the rape occurred on October 19, 2024.
A report published on August 31 on Desh Rupantor’s website under the headline “Three, including UP member, sentenced to death in gang rape case” said that the woman was abducted and gang-raped on the night of October 19, 2024, in Rashidpur Union of Jamalpur Sadar. The victim herself filed an abduction and rape case with Jamalpur Police Station as the complainant. In the verdict, three people, including UP member Md. Chhattar Ali, were sentenced to death.
For further verification, Dismislab contacted Saimum Sabbir Shovon, Jamalpur correspondent for Independent Television. He provided a copy of the case’s FIR. The FIR mentions the date of the incident as October 19, 2024.
