Shopkeeper Molests Minor Girl in Lailapur: Victim Survives Rape Attempt; Father Files FIR

A 13-year-old girl, a class 8 student at a Secondary School in Lailapur was allegedly attempted to be raped by a shopkeeper outside her school. The shopkeeper, Mayajul Ali Laskar of Hawaithang, who happens to be a Secretary of the Village Defence Party (VDP) and is also involved with the Bharatiya Janata Party allegedly forced the girl inside his shop when she went there to buy a pen. The accused touched her inappropriately and tried to undress her while suppressing her from yelling. The 13-year-old bit his hand and was able to save her life while running away home. Traumatised, she stopped going to school after that day. But she couldn’t share any of the details with her family out of fear. Unaware, her father insisted she go to school. One morning, Mayajul Ali Laskar confronted her on her way to school and threatened to release videos of her in a compromised position if she dared to speak out about what had happened.

The incident happened on September 3 when the accused was returning home after school. Outside her school, she went to a shop nearby to purchase a pen. When she went to the shop counter and asked for the pen, the shopkeeper asked her to enter the shop and get it. Innocently she complied, took the pen and was about to exit the door she entered. As she was about to leave, the shopkeeper suddenly grabbed her and covered her mouth to prevent her from screaming. He then dragged her to his bedroom and allegedly attempted to rape her. In a desperate fight for her life, the girl managed to escape by biting his hand and ran home.

The incident left her deeply traumatised, making her too fearful to return to school. She missed several days of classes, and when her father asked why, she made excuses but didn’t disclose the real reason. Unsatisfied with her response, her father insisted that she return to school. Six days after the dreadful event, she resumed her classes.

At school, however, she was distracted and unable to focus. Her uncharacteristic behaviour—particularly for a usually bright student—caught the attention of her teachers, who asked her what was wrong, but she couldn’t bring herself to share the truth.

On September 10, the accused, Mayajul Ali Laskar, once again signalled her towards his shop and called her to meet him, but she ignored him. The trauma resurfaced, causing her to miss school again on September 11. Then, on September 12, as she made her way to school, Mayajul intercepted her near a bamboo grove and threatened her once more. He warned her, saying, “What happened between us should remain secret. If you tell anyone, I’ll share all the details and videos on the Internet.”

That day at school, she was unable to concentrate in class. When her science teacher noticed and asked what was wrong, she only shook her head but remained silent. After the class, she gathered the courage to confide in the teacher and revealed everything that had happened. Deeply concerned, the science teacher immediately informed the headmaster, Zia Uddin Laskar. Realising the seriousness of the situation, the headmaster called her father, who rushed to the school and heard the details from his daughter for the first time. As a result, an FIR was filed yesterday at the Lailapur Police Patrol Post.

The headmaster broke into tears revealing the incident. He said, “It was around 2.20 in the afternoon (on September 12)I was in the library room when the science teacher of our school Manab Bhumiij informed me that a student of class 8 of our school had been the victim of torture and sexual harassment by a shopkeeper. She has been irregular in class since that dreadful incidenet. She is a very good student of our school. I along with the science teacher asked her if the matter was true. She started crying but when we consoled her, she revealed the disturbing details and that the shopkeeper tried outraging her modesty. This has pained us all and our teachers present there started crying. Later I informed her father, who came to the school and decided that an FIR needs to be filed”.

The headmaster broke into tears saying, “If a girl can’t be safe going to school near her home, what can be more shameful than that? The locals and the girls won’t forgive us if the police don’t take drastic action and the accused is not punished”.