The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) has pressed charges against sixteen people over the murder of Feni madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi and will be seeking capital punishment against them.

The charge sheet will be lodged in the court on Wednesday (May 29), PBI chief Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Banaj Kumar Majumder said while speaking to the media at the police headquarters on Tuesday (May 28).

“We will seek capital punishment [death] for the accused,” he said and added all the people who have been charged are in custody and will be present in court during the trial.

“None of them will be spared,” he said.

The accused are SM Siraj-ud-Daula, 57, Nur Uddin, 20, Shahadat Hossain Shamim, 20, Maksud Alam, 50, Saifur Rahman Mohammad Jobayer, 21, Javed Hossain aka Shakhawat Hossain Javed, 19, Hafez Abdul Kader, 25, Absar Uddin, 33, Kamrunnahar Moni, 19, Umme Sultana who also went by Poppy and Shompa, 19, Abdur Rahman Sharif, 20, Iftekhar Uddin Rana, 22, Imran Hossain aka Mamun, 22, Mohammad Shamim, 20, Ruhul Amin, 55 and Mohiuddin Shakil, 20.

Out of the 16 accused, 12 have already provided confessional statements under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

DIG Majumder said that there are 92 witnesses in the case, seven of whose statements have been recorded under section 164.

Nusrat, who was an Alim examinee, suffered 80% burns when she was set on fire on Apr 6 on the roof of Sonagazi Islamia Senior Fazil Madrasa, for refusing to withdraw sexual assault charges against now suspended madrasa principal Siraj-ud-Daula.

After she was set on fire, her family filed another case against eight people, including Siraj, on Apr 8.

The 18-year-old girl died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on Apr 10, after battling with burn injuries for five days.

Most of the accused have already been arrested and remanded for different time periods, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina personally assuring that every single person involved in Nusrat’s murder would be brought to book.