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“My wife told me to flee, and I broke the window grilles with a wrench and escaped. As the crowd kept pounding on the door, my wife held it shut and helped me flee.”

She opened the door only when he successfully fled, he added.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed yesterday said the trial proceedings in the case are likely to be completed within the next five to seven days.

Arrangements are being made to keep the relevant court open during the Eid holidays, he added.

Referring to the recent rise in gruesome crimes, Salahuddin said, “This is a form of social degradation. We need social reform. The level, frequency and nature of rape are going beyond our limits of tolerance.”

Sparked by Ramisa’s murder, protests continued for the fifth straight day in Dhaka and beyond yesterday, denouncing violence against women, children and other vulnerable groups. Demonstrators demanded swift justice for sexual violence and stronger social resistance to such crimes.