The hearing on the death sentence approval case and appeals began nearly seven years after the trial court handed down capital punishment to 16 convicts.
Feni madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi. Photo: Collected
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Feni madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi. Photo: Collected
The High Court today (28 July) began hearing the death reference and appeals filed in connection with the murder of madrasah student Nusrat Jahan Rafi in Feni’s Sonagazi in 2019.
The hearing on the death sentence approval case, along with appeals and jail appeals filed by the convicts, began before a High Court bench comprising Justice Bhishmadev Chakraborty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja.
After the first day of hearing, the bench fixed tomorrow (29 July) for further proceedings.
The death reference and appeals reached the High Court in late 2019, shortly after the trial court sentenced all 16 accused to death in the widely discussed murder case.
Lawyers involved in the case said all necessary proceedings for the death reference reached the High Court on 29 October 2019. The case documents were printed on a priority basis, and after completing necessary formalities, the matter was placed before the chief justice, who assigned it to the High Court bench for hearing.
Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, any death sentence handed down by a trial court must be sent to the High Court for confirmation. The accused also have the right to file appeals and jail appeals against such verdicts.
On 24 October 2019, Feni Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Mamunur Rashid sentenced all 16 accused in the case to death. The court also fined each convict Tk1 lakh.
According to case documents, Nusrat’s mother, Shirin Akhter, filed a case against former principal of Sonagazi Islamia Fazil Madrasah SM Siraj-ud-Doula on 27 March 2019, accusing him of sexually harassing her daughter. Police arrested the principal following the complaint.
The prosecution said some of Siraj-ud-Doula’s associates later attempted to build public support for his release. After allegedly consulting him in jail on 3 April, they planned the attack on Nusrat.
On 6 April 2019, when Nusrat went to the madrasah to sit for her Alim examination, the accused allegedly took her to the rooftop of a cyclone shelter and set her on fire in a planned attack.
She was rescued from the scene and taken first to Sonagazi Upazila Health Complex, then shifted to Feni 250-bed General Hospital. As her condition deteriorated, she was transferred to the Burn Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where she died on 10 April while undergoing treatment.
Nusrat’s brother Mahmudul Hasan Noman filed a case on 8 April accusing the attackers of attempted murder, which was later converted into a murder case following her death.
Police submitted the charge sheet on 28 May 2019, and charges were framed against the accused on 20 June. After recording witness statements and hearing arguments, the tribunal fixed 24 October for delivering the verdict.
The trial was completed in 61 working days, with testimony from 87 witnesses and arguments from both sides.
The 16 convicts sentenced to death are: former principal SM Siraj-ud-Doula, Nur Uddin, Shahadat Hossain Shamim, former Sonagazi municipality councillor Maksud Alam alias Maksud Councillor, Saifur Rahman Mohammad Zubayer, Jabed Hossain alias Sakhawat Hossain, Hafiz Abdul Kader, Absar Uddin, Kamrun Nahar Moni, Umme Sultana alias Popy, Abdur Rahim Sharif, Iftekhar Uddin Rana, Imran Hossain alias Mamun, former Sonagazi upazila Awami League president Ruhul Amin, Mohiuddin Shakil and Mohammad Shamim.
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