A tribunal in Feni on Thursday sentenced 16 people to death for their roles in killing madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi. District Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Mamunur Rashid handed down the verdict. The convicts are - madrasa principal SM Sirajuddoula, Awami League leader Ruhul Amin, Shahadat Hossain Shamim, Nur Uddin, Imran Hossain Mamun, Hafez Abdul Quader, Iftekhar Uddin Rana, Councillor Maksud Alam alias Moksud, Kamrunnahar Moni, Saifur Rahman Mohammad Zobair, Javed, Umme Sultana Popy, Mohiuddin Shakil, Mohammad Shamim, Abdur Rahim Sharif and Absar Uddin.
The Tribunal also fined them Tk 1 lakh each. Nusrat was set on fire on April 6 on the roof of a madrasa she attended, allegedly by people loyal to Sirajuddoula whom she had accused of sexually harassing her. She succumbed to her injuries four days later at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
A case was filed at Sonagazi Police Station on April 8. Police pressed charges in court against 16 people on May 29. Twelve of the accused reportedly confessed to their involvement in the killing of Nusrat, a student of Sonagazi Islamia Madrasa. On May 10, Moazzem Hossain, the then officer-in-charge of Sonagazi Model Police Station, was suspended in connection with the murder.
He was accused of unlawfully interrogating Nusrat and recording it on phone. A video of the interrogation went viral on the social media, prompting a lawyer to file a case against him on April 15 under the Digital Security Act. The tribunal on September 30 set today to pronounce the verdict as both the state and defence concluded their arguments on that day.
Nusrat, a student of Soniagazi Islamia Senior Fazil Madrasa, was set on fire on April 6, 2019, by stooges of madrasa principal SM Siraj Uddoula as she refused to withdraw a case filed against the crooked teacher for sexual harassment. Nusrat succumbed to her injuries at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on April 10.
Nusrat’s brother Mahmudul Hasan Noman on April 8 had filed the case against SM Siraj Uddoula, Md Nur Uddin, Md Shahadat Hossain Shamim, Maksud Alam, Saifur Rahman Md Zubayer, Jabed Hossain, Hafej Abdul Kader and Md Afsar Uddin. Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) on June 29 filed charge sheet against 16, including names of Qamrunnahar Moni, Umme Sultana Popi, Abdur Rahim Sharif, Iftekhar Uddin Rana, Imran Hossain, Md Shamim, Ruhul Amin and Mohiuddin Shakil, with the initial eight accused. The tribunal on July 10 took the charge sheet into cognizance and on July 20 framed charges in the case.
The court examined 87 witnesses on 62 hearing dates from June 27 to September 30. Nusrat had accused Siraj Uddoula of harassing her sexually on March 27, while she was exposed to his extreme vengeance on April 6 when she went to the madrasa to appear in Alim examination. A group of masked youths, later found to be the cronies of the disgraced principal, took Nusrat to the rooftop of the madrasa and set her on fire after tying her with her scarf.
