The Dhaka Metropolitan Violence against Children Prevention Tribunal on Sunday sentenced Sohel Rana and his wife Swapna Khatun to death on charges of rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in the capital’s Pallabi area on May 19.
Judge Masrur Salekin pronounced the verdict in a jam-packed courtroom at about 11:40am amid tight security in and around the courtroom. Sohel and Swapna heard the verdict from the dock.
During the pronouncement of the verdict, Swapna was seen crying sitting on a chair and Sohel was seen standing silently.
The trial court, in a rare example, delivered the verdict in 19 days of the incident and four working days after the farming of the charges against the accused on June 1.
The tribunal also fined Sohel Tk 5 lakh and Swapna Tk 2 lakh and ordered that the fines would be paid to the victim’s legal heirs. In case of failure to pay the fines, the court ordered the authorities to realise the money by auctioning the convicts’ movable or immovable properties.
The tribunal said that circumstantial evidence, testimony of the witnesses, and the confessional statement of Sohel proved that Sohel, in Swapna’s presence and with her cooperation, raped the girl and later killed her by cutting her throat with a sharp knife and, with the intention of concealing the body, severed the victim’s both hands and cut off the victim’s genitals.
Swapna committed the crime by not resisting the rape and murder of the child despite having ample opportunity, the court said, and added that she assisted her husband to commit the crime, attempted to conceal the victim’s body and flee the scene.
The tribunal pronounced their death sentence after saying that the crimes committed by the couple were beyond correction and no one, including children, is safe from such individuals.
As the tribunal pronounced the verdict, the lawyers and audience present in the courtroom clapped and cheered in joy, prompting the judge to ask them to maintain order.
The the victim’s father, immediately after the verdict, told journalists on the court premises that he was satisfied with the punishment and demanded immediate execution of the verdict after completing all the legal process.
Special public prosecutor Azizur Rahman Dulu, who is assigned to deal with the case, and state-appointed defence counsel Musa Kalimullah expressed their satisfaction over the judgement.
‘The criminals have been brought to justice for their crimes. I am satisfied,’ Musa told journalists on the court premises.
Azizur described the pronouncement of the verdict within four working days of charge framing as a milestone in the trial in such cases.
Prime minister Tarique Rahman, at a meeting of the business advisory committee held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on Sunday, thanked law minister Md Asaduzzaman and home minister Salahuddin Ahmed for their roles in identifying and bringing under the law the accused in the rape and murder of the child.
The prime minister said that the prompt investigation, identification, and arrest of the accused in such a brutal incident reflected the government’s firm commitment to maintaining law and order.
The PM also called on the law enforcement agencies, investigating officers, and all those concerned to maintain the same level of professionalism and dedication in ensuring public safety.
The prime minister visited the victim’s family on May 21 and assured the family of ensuring a fair and speedy investigation into the incident.
The police completed their investigation and submitted a charge sheet on May 24, only four days after the filing of the case on May 20 by the victim’s father.
The chief justice, meanwhile, has decided to constitute a dedicated High Court bench to hear death references and appeals arising from cases filed under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, including the Pallabi child rape and murder case.
The bench will start functioning from next Sunday, according to attorney general Md Ruhul Quddus.
The attorney general disclosed the decision at a briefing at his office on Sunday, sometimes after the Pallabi girl rape and murder verdict.
He said he drew chief justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury’s attention in open court to public frustration over delays in hearing appeals and death references, which often postpone the execution of trial court verdicts.
According to him, the attorney general urged the chief justice to take effective measures to address public concerns and ensure timely justice.
Under law, a death sentence awarded by a trial court cannot be executed unless it is confirmed by the High Court. Such proceedings are known as death reference cases. Convicts are also entitled to file jail appeals, regular appeals and miscellaneous petitions against the verdict. The High Court usually hears the death reference and related appeals together.
Meanwhile, the law, justice and parliamentary affairs minister Md Asaduzzaman, at his secretariat office, told journalists that the judgment could be executed within three months after completion of all legal procedures if the relevant bench of the Supreme Court hears the matter on priority.
Home minister Salahuddin Ahmed at his secretariat office told journalists that the government would draw the attention of the Supreme Court and the Attorney General’s office so that the death reference hearing in the case could be scheduled earlier.
He added that DNA testing, autopsy procedures and the submission of the charge sheet were completed within the shortest possible time, while the judge and the concerned officials cancelled their Eid holidays to complete the judicial proceedings in this case.
Court officials said that the accused, Swapna, was brought to the court premises from jail at about 8:30am, and Sohel was brought there after a few minutes.
The victim’s father who was present in the courtroom began wailing when the court was reading out its findings on the brutality faced by the victim.
Security was beefed up in and around the court premises ahead of the verdict. Additional police personnel were deployed and surveillance was increased in the tribunal area.
A large number of media personnel, lawyers and justice seekers gathered on the court premises to hear the verdict.
The recovery of the dismembered body of the eight-year-old girl from Sohel’s apartment in Pallabi on May 19, sparked widespread protests and condemnation across the country, with demonstrators demanding a speedy trial and exemplary punishment for those responsible.
On May 20, Sohel gave a confessional statement before a Dhaka court.
The government on May 24 appointed Supreme Court lawyer Musa Kalimullah as the state defence lawyer to defend the couple, as the lawyers of the Dhaka District Bar Association declined to defend the couple.
The tribunal, on June 2, a day after framing charges against the couple, completed recording the testimonies of 16 prosecution witnesses in a day.
While defending themselves before the tribunal on June 3, Sohel begged the court’s pardon, while Swapna denied the charges against her.
Sohel allegedly fled the scene by breaking the grill of the apartment’s toilet window. His wife, however, was detained at the scene, and he was arrested later that evening in Narayanganj.
The day after the killing, the child’s father filed a case with Pallabi police station against Sohel, his wife and an unidentified person.
