The High Court (HC) on Wednesday upheld the death sentences of two accused in the murder case of Nusrat Jahan Rafi, a madrasa student of Sonagazi in Feni. Four accused have also been sentenced to life imprisonment. He’s been acquitted of ten assailants.
The High Court bench of Justice Bhishmadeb Chakraborty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raza passed the order on Monday (August 24th).
Earlier, the hearing of the death reference, appeal and jail appeal of the case ended on August 20th. The Chief Justice of India (CJI) constituted the bench on June 10 to settle the case on a priority basis. The bench began the proceedings of the case on June 14.
Naruto was killed.
According to the case documents, on March 27, 2019, the then principal of Sonagazi Islamia Fazil Madrasa, Siraj Uddaula, called Nusrat’s molestation in her room. He was arrested after the incident.
On April 6th, Nusrat was called to the roof of the madrasa and tied her hands and feet to the body and set it on fire. He was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where he died on 10 April 2019 while undergoing treatment at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Nusrat’s elder brother Mahmudul Hasan Noman filed a case with Sonagazi police station in this connection. It later turned into a murder case.
Sixteen sentenced to death by the court
After a lengthy investigation and judicial process, the Feni Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal sentenced sixteen accused, including the suspended principal Siraj Uddaula, to death in the Nusrat murder case.
After the verdict, the documents of the case were sent to the High Court as a death reference for approval. The case was registered as a 140/19 death reference after the documents reached the High Court on October 29, 2019. The accused also filed separate appeals and jail appeals against their convictions.
After a lengthy legal process, the High Court on Monday upheld the death sentence of two accused, four were acquitted of life and 10 accused.