A court in Sylhet has sentenced an accused to death by hanging and three others life-term imprisonment in a case involving gang rape of a housewife in the hostel of MC (Murari Chand) College.
Judge Swapan Kumar Sarkar of the Sylhet Speedy Trial Tribunal on Tuesday (July 14) handed down the death penalty on prime accused Saifur Rahman Rony who is also an activist of banned Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL).
The rest three accused -- Shah Mahbubur Rahman alias Roni, Tarekul Islam alias Tarek, and Arjun Laskar -- were sentenced to life imprisonment. Three other accused were also acquitted from the case.
The verdict comes nearly six years after the gang-rape of a young housewife inside the MC College dormitory in the evening of September 25, 2020, where her husband was held hostage.
According to court sources, a total of 24 witnesses testified in the case after it was shifted to the Speedy Trial Tribunal. The witnesses included victim young woman, her husband, investigating officer, judicial magistrate, a teacher from MC College, and a doctor from the forensic department of Osmani Medical College Hospital.
In the evening of September 25, 2020, while returning from the Shah Paran Shrine area, a couple was stopped in front of the MC College main gate by a group of young men halting their private car.
Then the young men forced them into the college dormitory. There, they held the husband captive tying his hands and legs. Then the young woman was gang-raped inside their car. There are allegations that the young men also mugged the couple and delayed releasing their car.
On the night of the incident, the victim's husband filed a case at the Shahparan Police Station, naming six individuals. During the investigation, the involvement of two more persons was identified.
A separate case, filed over the allegations of blocking a car and extorting money, is also being tried jointly with the case.
Meanwhile, following the incident, the suspects went into hiding, but all eight accused were arrested within three days by Police and RAB.
During the investigation, several defendants gave confessional statements in court.
Furthermore, the investigation report mentioned that the DNA test results of six out of the eight defendants matched the collected evidence.
On December 3, 2021, Indranil Bhattacharya, the then Inspector (Investigation) of Shah Paran Police Station, submitted a chargesheet against eight individuals.
END/ASA
