“I got justice” — said the defense lawyer

❐ Staff Reporter

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The verdict in the case filed in the rape and murder of child Ramisa Akhter in Dhaka’s Pallabi has been announced. Dhaka Metropolitan Child Violence Prevention Tribunal Judge Masrur Salehin on Sunday afternoon sentenced the two accused in the case — Sohel Rana and his wife Swapna Akhter — to death. At the same time, Sohel was fined Tk 5 lakh and Swapna was fined Tk 2 lakh.

The court has ordered that the fine must be collected by selling their movable and immovable properties and paid to the victim’s family.

After the verdict was announced, state-appointed lawyer Musa Kalimuliah, representing the accused, expressed satisfaction with the verdict.

He said, “Accused Sohel Rana confessed to the crime and gave a statement. He himself pleaded guilty in his own defense. The verdict has sentenced Sohel and Swapna to death. I have received justice. The criminal has been punished for his crime. I am satisfied.”

When asked whether he would appeal the verdict, he said, “The state has appointed me as the defendant. If the state wants, I will appeal.”

Special Public Prosecutor Azizur Rahman Dulu also expressed satisfaction with the verdict, saying, “Ramisa’s father has received justice, we are satisfied.”

After the verdict, Abdul Hannan Molla, the father of child Ramisa, said in the court premises, “Alhamdulillah, I am 100% happy with the verdict. I have got what I expected and desired in this verdict. Insha Allah, I am 100% optimistic that the verdict will be implemented soon. With the mercy of Allah and within the time given by the Prime Minister, we have got the desired verdict.”

He added, “My sincere gratitude to all the judges, police administration, journalists and the general public of Bangladesh who have provided emotional support to me and my family during this difficult time. Of course, I want to see the verdict in the trial of my daughter’s murder implemented quickly.”

The incident began on May 19. That afternoon, police recovered the body of child Ramisa (8) from a flat in a building in B Block, Section 11, Pallavi. Swapna was arrested from that house. Later in the evening, Sohel Rana was arrested from Fatulla, Narayanganj.

This brutal rape and murder incident sparked intense anger and reaction across the country. In the resulting situation, the Dhaka Bar Association decided not to provide legal services to the accused. After that, the Law Ministry assigned lawyer Musa Kalimuliah to handle the case at state expense. And the government appointed Azizur Rahman Dulu as a special public prosecutor to handle the case for the state.

Thrilling description in the statement

On June 2, as part of the fast-track trial process of the case, the tribunal successfully completed the depositions and cross-examination of 16 of the 18 witnesses included in the chargesheet. The depositions began with a tearful deposition by Abdul Hannan Mollah, the plaintiff in the case and Ramisa’s father.

Then, in turn, the victim’s mother Parveen Akhter, elder sister Raisa Akhter (through a camera trial), uncle, aunt, neighbor, police officer who prepared the coffin, forensic doctor who performed the autopsy, and the investigation officer of the case gave their statements in court, where Musa Kalimullah, the state-appointed lawyer for the defendant, questioned them.

During the hearing, as one witness after another recounted the harrowing accounts of the brutal murder, an atmosphere of shock, grief, and anger filled the entire courtroom, and many of the lawyers present and the court staff broke down in tears.

The description of SI Md. Iqbal Hossain, the officer who prepared Ramisa’s medical report in court, stunned the entire courtroom.

He said in a tearful voice that a georgette veil was recovered from the scene, with which the child’s face was tightly bound and brutally tortured. Ramisa’s body was lying with her head severed under the bed in front of the door of the accused’s bedroom, and her severed head was recovered from a blood-stained bucket of water in a corner.

In order to permanently destroy the body, the men and animals severed the child’s arms and legs and also injured his genitals with sharp weapons.

Dr. Nasad Jabin, assistant professor of the forensic department of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, mentioned in his autopsy report that when he received the body on the afternoon of May 20, the child had fingernail scratches on his face, two cut lips, a broken nose, and severe injuries on the left side of his chest.

Ramisa died instantly due to the fact that her throat was cut and her head was severed with a very sharp weapon or knife, and forensic and DNA tests have found irrefutable evidence of brutal rape before her death.

Finally, standing in the courtroom, Pallabi Police Station’s SI Ahiduzzaman, the main investigating officer of the case, said that after the incident, Ramisa’s mother Parveen Akhter went to the front of the flat with her neighbors and repeatedly pleaded, “Sister, open the door, nothing will happen to you,” but the murderous couple did not open the door from inside the house.

Because, after repeatedly beating the child in the common bathroom, they were engaged in a diabolical game of disposing of the body and beheading him, thinking him dead. Even before their arrest, they tried to completely destroy all the important evidence and lining of the bloody room by washing it with water.