Upama Dutta, 15
Where is she?? ? ?

A Minor Minority Girl Abducted in Dinajpur, Bangladesh
Incident: Mr. Chanchal Dutta of Barabandar under Kotwali Police Station of Dinajpur, reported that his minor daughter Miss Upama Dutta (15), a student of class IX in the local school, while going to her tutor Mr. Tapan Chakraborty's residence on 26th April at around 7:30 AM was abducted by a neighborhood hoodlum on the road, named Sohel Chowdhury, son of Alamgir Chowdhury alias Dulal Miah, a local man of Baluchar of Dinajpur. He used a motor vehicle to abduct her. Two local young men were the accomplices of this incident. The younger brother of Upama Dutta helplessly witnessed the abduction.
Allegation: Due to the pressure from influential quarters and police, victim's father failed to register the case. Later a FIR was register on 05/01/08. Sitangshu Guha, Director, Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, USA raised the above two cases in a meeting on 9th May 2008 in Rayburn building organized by Congressional Human Rights Caucus Task Force for International Religious Freedom.  Ms. Rosaline Costa, Hotline Bangladesh also spoke about Upama in the same meeting where Mr. Richard Sacks, Acting Director for the Office of Pakistan and Bangladesh at the U.S. State Department Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs; Mr. Selig Harrison, director of the Asia Program at the Center for International Policy and a senior scholar of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Ms. Maneeza Hossain with the Hudson Institute; and Dr. Richard Benkin also spoke.
Latest: The girl was recovered by police and handed over to her parents (May 15, 2008).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ On 9th May 2008, above two rape cases were raised in a Washington, D.C. meeting by Sitangshu Guha (Congressional Human Rights Caucus/ Task Force for International Religious Freedom/ Invite you to a symposium on: Getting Democracy Back on Track in Bangladesh: Sustaining Human Rights and Freedoms for All/ Friday, May 9, 2008/ 10:30-12:00 p.m/Room: 2168 Rayburn, Gold Room/ This symposium will address the following important issues with expert witnesses:/ U.S. Policy and Foreign Assistance:  Richard Sacks, Acting Director for the Office of Pakistan and Bangladesh at the U.S. State Department Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs / Elections, Islamist Parties, and Political Reform:  Selig Harrison, director of the Asia Program at the Center for International Policy and a senior scholar of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and Maneeza Hossain with the Hudson Institute; and  Human Rights and Religious Freedom:  Rosaline Costa with Hotline Bangladesh, and Sitangshu Guha, Director of Bangladesh Human Rights Watch and Director of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council.
Sincerely,
Tina Ramirez
Office of Congressman Trent Franks
Second Congressional District of Arizona
1237 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
202-225-4576
www.house.gov/franks ).
Latest: The girl was recovered by police and handed over to her parents (May 15, 2008).