The High Court on Tuesday ordered the appointment of state defence lawyers for condemned couple Sohel Rana and Shopna Akter in their appeals against the death sentences for the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl at Pallabi in Dhaka.

The bench of Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja passed the order as the death reference and jail appeals of the convicts came up for hearing.

On June 10, chief justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury constituted the bench to exclusively for cases involving death sentences under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.

The couple filed the appeals through prison authorities on June 11. The High Court on June 14 admitted the appeals for hearing.

On June 7, the Dhaka Metropolitan Violence Against Children Prevention Tribunal sentenced Sohel Rana and Shopna Akter to death on charge of the rape and murder of the child.

The tribunal delivered the verdict only 19 days after the crime.

The tribunal also fined Sohel Rana Tk 5 lakh and Shopna Akter Tk 2 lakh.

The dismembered body of the girl was recovered from the rented house of the couple.

In his appeal, Sohel claimed that he was under the influence of drugs during the incident and was unaware of his actions. He expressed remorse and sought mercy.

Swapna, in her appeal, claimed innocence and sought fair justice, saying that she had no involvement in the crimes.