The date for the verdict, which is yet to be rendered, regarding Nusrat Jahan Rafi murder case, will be fixed on Monday (Sept 30) by Judge Mamunur Rashid of Feni's Women and Child Abuse Prevention Tribunal.
Public Prosecutor Advocate Hafez Ahmed said: “I am supposed to present my legal arguments against the points raised by the defendant’s advocate on Sunday (Sept 29). But the court was on hold as the judge was sick.”
He added, the presentation of legal arguments in the tribunal for this case took a total of twelve working days to complete.
Previously on Apr 8, Nusrat’s elder brother Mahmudul Hasan Noman filed the murder case with Sonagazi Model Police Station.
On May 29, the Police Bureau of Investigation submitted a charge-sheet of 808 pages, accusing a total of 16 people in the case. The charge-sheet included Siraj uddaula, who gave the order of burning Nusrat to death. 12 of the 16 accused have given confessional statements in lower court. The matter was then transferred to the tribunal on May 30.
On Jun 20, 16 accused was indicted by the tribunal. The judgement procedure began with examining the case’s complainant Noman in the court on Jun 27, and Jun 30.
The tribunal heard testimonies of 87 witnesses among 92.
On Apr 6, 18-year-old Nusrat, of Sonagazi Islamia Senior Fazil Madrasa, was set on fire on the roof of the madrasa by people loyal to Siraj uddaula, the principal, in broad daylight, after she refused to withdraw a sexual harassment case her family filed against him on May 27.
She succumbed to her critical burn injuries at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on Apr 10-which sparked a nationwide outrage that demanded swift justice against the perpetrators.