On the very day principal of Feni's Sonagazi Islamia Senior Fazil Madrasa Md Siraj-ud-Daula was arrested on charges of sexual harassment against his student Nusrat Jahan Rafi, two madrasa teachers threatened Nusrat's brother and told him to drop the charges.
The teachers are Hafez Abdul Kader and Afsar Uddin, followers of Siraj-ud-Daula – who is also the key accused in the murder case of Nusrat, her father AKM Musa said during his testimony in the murder case, at the court of Justice Mamunur Rashid under the Prevention of Repression of Women and Children Tribunal, on Monday (Jul 29).
Musa said: "On Mar 27, I was at my workplace, when my wife called me to say Siraj-ud-Daula had taken Nusrat to his office room and sexually harassed her. Police arrived and took Siraj-ud-Daula to the police station; later, he was arrested after my wife filed a sexual harassment case."
And on that very day, Hafez Abdul Kader and Afsar Uddin threatened his son Mahmudul Hasan Noman to withdraw the charges, Musa said.
Nusrat's father further said: "After the Alim examinations started on Apr 2, my son used to accompany Nusrat to and from the exam hall. When Siraj-ud-Daula's followers started protesting against his arrest, Nusrat became depressed. She started worrying whether she would get actually get justice for his crimes. But she told us she would fight till the end."
Other than Musa, Nusrat's cousin Muhammad Ali and uncle Syed Selim also gave their testimonies before the court on Monday. Nusrat's elder brother Mahmudul Hasan Noman and younger brother Rashedul Hasan Raihan were also present.
Public Prosecutor of Feni District Judge Court Hafez Ahmed confirmed the information. Till now, the court has recorded the statements of and interrogated 61 witnesses among the total 92.
Dr Sohel Mahmud, Pradip Biswas, Jannatul Ferdous, Abu Taher, Arman Bin Abdullah, Md Obaidul Islam, AKM Moniruzzaman and Archana Pal are scheduled to provide their statements in front of the court on Tuesday, lawyer of the plaintiff M Shahjahan Shaju said.
The trial of Nusrat murder case commenced formally with the deposition of the first witness Nusrat's brother Noman – the plaintiff of the case – on Jun 25.
Judge Mamunur Rashid's court recorded Noman's partial statement and fixed Tuesday as the date for recording further testimonies in the case, according to the Feni Judge Court Public Prosecutor advocate Hafez Ahmed.
On May 29, Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) filed a complaint to the court accusing 16 people. On May 30, the case was transferred to the Prevention of Repression of Women and Children Tribunal. The court started the hearing of the case on Jun 10. And finally, on Jun 20, the court structured a complaint against the 16 accused.
Nusrat, a student of Sonagazi Islamia Senior Fazil Madrasa and an Alim examinee, died on Apr 10 from severe burn injuries four days after supporters of the now suspended madrasa principal, Siraj-ud-Daula, set her on fire on the madrasa premises.
She had lodged a sexual harassment complaint with Sonagazi police station against Siraj-ud-Daula on Mar 27. Siraj-ud-Daula was subsequently arrested and sent to jail. Nusrat was set on fire when Siraj-ud-Daula's associates failed to intimidate her into withdrawing the complaint.
Later, Md Shah Alam, investigation officer of the case and an inspector of Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), pressed charges against sixteen people.
The accused are: Md Siraj-ud-Daula, Nur Uddin, Shahdat Hossain Shamim, Maksud Alam alias Moksud Al councillor, Saifur Rahman Mohammad Jobayer, Jabed Hossain alias Sakhwat Hossain Jaber, Hafez Abdul Kader, Afsar Uddin, Kamrun Nahar Moni, Umme Sultana Popy alias Tuhin alias Shampa alias Champa, Abdur Rahim Sharif, Eftekhar Uddin Rana, Imran Hossain alias Mamun, Mohammad Shamim, Ruhul Amin, and Mohiuddin Shakil.