A special tribunal in Dhaka today completed recording the statements of prosecution witnesses in a single day, a day after framing charges against prime accused Sohel Rana and his wife Swapna Khatun, in a case filed over the rape and murder of eight-year-old schoolgirl Ramisa Akter in Dhaka’s Pallabi area.

Judge Masrur Salekin of the Dhaka Metropolitan Children Violence Prevention Tribunal set tomorrow for examining the accused after recording the statements of 16 witnesses, Special Public Prosecutor Azizur Rahman Dulu told The Daily Star.

The victim’s parents and the investigator are among the 16 witnesses, he said.

During today's hearing, Supreme Court lawyer Musa Kalimullah represented the accused as a state defence counsel.

Earlier in the day, Sohel and Swapna were produced before the tribunal from the lock-up of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court in Dhaka for the hearing.

Yesterday, the tribunal framed charges against the couple.

On May 24, the investigator, Ohiduzzaman, also a sub-inspector of Pallabi Police Station, submitted the charge sheet before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in Dhaka, accusing Sohel of rape, murder, and destruction of evidence, and Swapna of destruction of evidence and providing false information.

Several hours later, the CMM Court transferred the case to the Children’s Violence Suppression Tribunal for trial.

Ramisa, a class-2 student of Popular Model High School, was found beheaded on May 19 in the house of her neighbour, Sohel.

The following day, Ramisa's father Abdul Hannan Mollah filed a case with Pallabi Police Station, accusing the couple and an unidentified person.

According to the case statement, Sohel lured Ramisa into his room and raped her. Investigators said he later slit her throat and attempted to dismember the body to conceal the crime.