Hearing on charge framing in the rape and murder of child Ramisa Akter at Pallabi in the capital begins this morning (June 1).
Prime accused Sohel Rana and his wife Swapna Akter have already been produced before a Dhaka court.
The accused were brought from prison to court at around 7:45am by a prison van and were subsequently kept in the court's holding cell.
The hearing on the framing of charges is scheduled to take place before the Dhaka Children Violence Suppression Tribunal. Judge Masrur Salekin is expected to hear arguments in the presence of the accused.
Pankaj Peter Gomes, bench assistant of the concerned court, confirmed the development.
Earlier on May 24, the tribunal set June 1 for the charge framing hearing in a case filed over the rape and murder of eight-year-old Ramisa Akter at Pallabi.
Judge Masrur Salekin of the Dhaka Children Violence Suppression Tribunal set the date after accepting the charge sheet on Sunday against the prime accused, Sohel Rana, and his wife, Swapna Akter, said Pankaj Peter Gomes, bench assistant of the tribunal.
Prior to this, police submitted the charge sheet before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court in Dhaka, accusing the two.
Later, the case was transferred to the Children Violence Suppression Tribunal for disposal.
Court sources said the tribunal had been scheduled to remain closed for Eid and vacation leave until June 15. However, under special directives, the leave has been cancelled to allow the trial in the Ramisa murder case to proceed.
Ramisa, a second-grader at Popular Model High School in Mirpur, was killed in a neighbouring flat in the same building on May 19.
The main accused, Sohel Rana, 34, gave a confessional statement before a court on 20 May, admitting that he sexually assaulted and later killed the child.
END/CORRESPONDENT/ASA
