Magura child rape and murder: Victim’s mother disappointed with acquittal of 3

The mother of the victim has expressed disappointment with the verdict of three accused being acquitted in the high-profile child rape and murder case from Magura. She shared her reaction on the court premises Saturday morning, shortly after the verdict was announced.

The court has sentenced Hitu Sheikh, the father-in-law of the victim’s sister, to death. He has also been fined Tk 100,000 (Tk 1 lakh). Meanwhile the other three accused have been acquitted in the case. Magura Women and Child Abuse Prevention Tribunal Judge M Zahid Hasan passed the verdict at around 9:30 am today.

The child’s mother, who is also the plaintiff in the case, was present in court along with the accused during the verdict. Giving her reaction after the verdict, she told Prothom Alo, “I’m not satisfied. How can three of the accused be acquitted in this case? They assisted in the crime. They threatened my elder daughter, beat her up, and forced her to stay silent. They too are guilty and they should be punished as well.”

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).

When asked about the verdict, public prosecutor (PP) Monirul Islam Mukul told Prothom Alo, “We are satisfied that the main accused has been given the death penalty. But, we’ll get to know why the other three have been acquitted once we receive the full verdict. After reviewing it, we will take decision whether to file an appeal with the High Court.”

Meanwhile, in an immediate reaction after the verdict, defence lawyer Sohel Ahmed (appointed through the Legal Aid office) expressed satisfaction over the verdict. Speaking to Prothom Alo he said, “We are pleased that the three accused have been acquitted. The charges brought against them could not be proven in court. And the decision whether to file an appeal against the death sentence of the main accused will be made after consulting with his family members.”

The daughter of the convict sentenced to death complained that the trial was one-sided. Speaking to Prothom Alo she said, “No lawyer was willing to represent us here. We were assigned one through Legal Aid, but he didn’t present our side properly in the court.”

“We wanted to present several witnesses, but the lawyer told us they wouldn’t be allowed. If sentencing my father to death brings justice to this country, so be it. But, what happened here was a one-sided trial,” she said.

She added that her father’s house was set on fire after the incident. Since then, her grandmother has been spending nights on someone else’s porch. “Who will ensure justice for this?” questioned the daughter of convicted Hitu Sheikh.

The victim child had gone to visit her sister’s house on 1 March. On 6 March, the mother-in-law of the child’s sister took 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.

Later the child died while undergoing treatment at the CMH in Dhaka on 13 March. On the same day, her body was flown to Magura by a military helicopter. After two separate namaz-e-janaza (funeral prayers), she was laid to rest at the village graveyard in Sripur upazila of Magura. Earlier, the child’s mother had filed a rape and attempt to murder case under the women and children repression prevention act with Magura Sadar police station on 8 March.

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.

As such, the verdict in the case has been delivered on the 73rd day of the incident counting from 6 March. Earlier, the police submitted the charge sheet after completing the investigation within 37 days of the incident. The verdict in this high-profile case has been delivered after just 25 days (13 working days) of framing charges and the trial began.