Staff Reporter :
A court in Magura on Saturday convicted and sentenced prime accused Hitu Sheikh to death, but acquitted three others in a sensational case lodged over the rape and subsequently murder of an eight-year-old girl in the district in March this year.
M Zahid Hasan, the judge of Magura Women and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal, announced the verdict in the case at 9:30 am in presence of the accused. He sentenced Hitu Sheikh to death and fined him Tk 1 lakh.
Immediately after announcement of the verdict, relatives of the victim expressed their anger on the court premises. They alleged that though Hitu Sheikh was sentenced to death, the other accused, who had assisted in the rape and murder, were set free. Their acquittal was not justice.
After concluding the arguments of the defence and prosecution on May 13, the court set May 17 for delivering the judgment. The child was rapped on March 6 last by Hitu Sheikh, father-in-law of the child’s elder sister, when she was visiting their house. She succumbed to death on March 13 due to severe injuries.
She was initially admitted to Magura Sadar Hospital in a critical condition and was later transferred to Dhaka’s Combined Military Hospital, where she died on March 13.
Following the incident, the victim’s mother filed the case with Magura Sadar Police Station on March 8 under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.
After investigation, police submitted the charge sheet against four persons on April 13. The court on April 23 framed charges against them.
“The judgment was expected as the accused gave statement under section 164, and the witnesses too gave the same testimonies. We received justice,” special public prosecutor Ehsanul Haque Samaji told newsmen after the judgment.
