Magura child rape: 1 sentenced to death, 3 acquitted

A Magura court has sentenced Hitu Sheikh, the prime accused in the Magura child rape and murder case, to death.The remaining three accused in the case have been acquitted.

Magura Women and Child Abuse Prevention Tribunal Judge M Zahid Hasan passed the verdict at around 9:30 am today, Saturday.

Ehsanul Haque Samaji, a lawyer with the rank of attorney general and appointed as a special prosecutor by the Ministry of Home Affairs, confirmed the verdict.

Sources say the court started recording case deposition on 27 April. Since then, hearings have been held every day except the holidays. The hearings took place in the presence of the accused in court.

In the case, charges were framed under Section 9(2) of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act (offence of death resulting from rape) against the father-in-law of victim’s sister.

The victim's brother-in-law and her sister’s brother-in-law were also sued under the second part of Section 506 of the Penal Code (criminal intimidation) and their mother under Section 201 of the Penal Code (accusation of destroying evidence of the crime).

On 13 April, inspector (investigation) Md Alauddin of Magura Sadar police station, submitted the charge sheet to the court as the investigation officer in the case.

Later, on 17 April, the case was referred to the tribunal from the Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court and the charge sheet was taken into cognisance on 20 April. The trial began with the framing of charges on 23 April.

The prime accused in the case gave a confessional statement under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the court of Senior Judicial Magistrate Sabyasachi Roy on 15 March.

Sources from police and family members said the child went to her sister’s house several days ago. On 6 March, the mother-in-law of the child’s sister brought her to the 250-bed hospital in an unconscious state. The victim was later shifted to Faridpur Medical College Hospital where she was put on life support. She was later taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and eventually to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) for advanced treatment.

The child’s mother filed a rape case on 8 March. As such, the verdict in the case is going to be delivered within 73 days of the incident. Earlier, the police submitted the charge sheet within 37 days of the incident.