A court has sentenced 16 people to death over the murder of Feni madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi who was set on fire after refusing to withdraw sexual harassment charges against the madrasa principal.
Judge Md Mamunur Rashed of Feni Women and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal delivered the verdict on Thursday (Oct 24) with all the convicts present in court.
The convicts are: madrasa principal Siraj-ud-Daula, Nur Uddin, Shahadat Hossain Shamim, councilor Maksud Alam, Saifur Rahman Mohammad Zobair, Shakhawat Hossain Jabed, Hafez Abdul Kader, Absar Uddin, Kamrun Nahar Moni, Umme Sultana Poppy, Abdur Rahim Sharif, Iftekhar Uddin Rana, Imran Hossain Mamun, Mohammad Shamim, Ruhul Amin, and Mohiuddin Shakil.
Each of the convicts have been slapped with a fine of Tk 100,000 each.
Nusrat, a student of Sonagazi Islamia Fazil Madrasa was torched on the roof of the madrasa after being tricked there by the followers of madrasa principal Siraj-ud-Daula on Apr 6.
The Alim examinee was set on fire for refusing to withdraw a sexual harassment case she had filed against Siraj who was arrested on Mar 27.
According to the case documents, after being taken to the hospital, Nusrat said that the day of the incident, she rushed to the roof on hearing that one of her friends who is a witness to the sexual harassment case was being beaten up.
Four burqa-clad people, who were later identified to be Siraj’s cronies, had their faces covered and poured kerosene on her and set her on fire when she refused to withdraw the charges, she had said.
On Apr 8, her brother Mahmudul Hasan Noman filed a case over the incident accusing eight people, including the principal.
The 18-year-old died five days after the attack on Apr 10 at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Her killing sparked outrage and protests against oppression of women and girls, drawing the attention of the international media and prompting government high-ups, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to pledge justice for her.
The case was handed over to the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) on Apr 10 who charged 16 people with the murder on Jun 29.
Previously, the police, citing confessional statements from the convicts said that Nur Uddin met with Siraj in jail on Apr 4 and planned the attack with the others the following day.
They added that another convict Shamim got involved in the attack because Nusrat had refused his proposal for a relationship.
The accused who directly took part in the attack were identified as Nusrat’s classmates Zubair, Moni, Poppy and Jabed along with Shamim, according to the police.
Poppy who is Siraj’s niece, called and followed Nusrat to the rooftop while Moni pinned the victim down and Jabed doused her with kerosene and set her alight with a matchstick, law enforcers said citing their statements.
They said Moni, who is related to Shamim, also admitted to purchasing the burqas and handing those over to him.
The police said that Shamim used to work for local ward councillor Maksud, who knew about the incident and funded the burqas and kerosene.