A court has sentenced a man to death by hanging for rape and murder of a seven-year-old child at Matuail area of Jatrabari in the capital due to previous enmity.
The convicted individual is Md Rofikul Islam, 27, son of Abul Kalam from Gopinathchar at Fulchhari upazila of Gaibandha district.
On Thursday (March 20) afternoon, Judge Mosammat Rokshana Begum Happy of Dhaka Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-3 announced the verdict.
In addition to death penalty, the judge has imposed a fine of Tk 50,000 on the defendant, along with an additional six months of simple imprisonment in case of non-payment.
After the announcement of the verdict, the accused was sent to jail under punishment warrant.
In observation of verdict, judge said that the way accused brutally and barbarically raped and murdered an innocent small child, 7, he has no right to live in this world and to receive the air and light of the earth. Because no woman or child is safe around him. Through this punishment, the tribunal wants to send out a message to everyone in society that such brutal crimes against women and children will be punished. If after a proper investigation, all the evidence and testimonies can be presented by the prosecution.
According to the case's first information report, the plaintiff's seven-year-old daughter went to the bathroom next to their house at 6 AM on October 1, 2017. However, after half an hour passed and she did not return, the victim's parents started looking for her. Later, the accused Rofikul called victim's father to inform him that the child was with him. Then they went to the accused's house to find the room locked. Later, with the help of the police, they broke the lock of the accused's room and found the victim's body tied up with ropes.
Following the incident, victim's father filed a case with Jatrabari police station regarding the incident.
Later, after investigating the case, Jatrabari police submitted a charge sheet to the court. The charge sheet states that on the day of the incident, accused Rofikul took the victim to his house. Then he gagged the victim with a scarf. When the victim tried to scream, the accused held her mouth shut. Then, due to previous enmity, the accused raped the victim. After the rape, he suffocated the victim by covering her mouth with a blanket and killed her.
Subsequently, on May 15, 2019, the court formally began the trial of the case with the framing of charges. During the trial, among the 16 witnesses listed in the charge sheet, 12 testified in court.
MAL/SH
