Nusrat murder case: HC to deliver verdict Monday

High Court will deliver its verdict on Monday on the death reference and appeals of the defendants in Nusrat Jahan Rafi murder case. As the family awaits justice, Nusrat's mother, Shirin Akhter, remains anxious about their safety.

Shirin believes that the High Court will uphold the lower court’s death sentences. However, she said her family lives in fear due to “various threats from influential locals”. Because she worries about the safety and movement of her sons, she fears that “the associates of the criminals could take revenge at any time”.

Authorities have deployed extra police at Nusrat’s home at North Chorchandia in Sonagazi, Feni. Sonagazi Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Abul Hashim told Agamir Somoy that although police guards were already stationed at the house, authorities deployed additional forces to prevent any unwanted incidents.

He assured that police will continue to provide security to the victim’s family even after the court announces its verdict.

The 16 defendants who received death sentences from the lower court include: suspended madrasah principal Siraj-ud-Daula, the then-president of Sonagazi Upazila Awami League Ruhul Amin, Sonagazi Municipal Councilor Maksudul Alam, madrasah teacher Hafez Abdul Kader, lecturer Afsar Uddin, and madrasah students Nur Uddin, Shahadat Hossain Shamim, Saifur Rahman Mohammad Zobair, Javed Hossain alias Sakhawat Hossain Javed, Kamrun Nahar Moni, Umme Sultana Poppy alias Tuhin, Abdur Rahim Sharif, Iftekhar Uddin Rana, Imran Hossain Mamun, Mohammad Shamim, and Mohi Uddin Shakil.

According to case records, Nusrat studied at Sonagazi Islamia Kamil Madrasah. In March 2019, Shirin filed a case against Siraj-ud-Daula, accusing him of sexually harassing Nusrat. Police arrested the principal, but his followers launched protests demanding his release.

Following a meeting with Siraj in prison on 3 April, his followers planned Nusrat’s murder at the madrasah hostel on 4 April. When Nusrat arrived at the madrasah on 6 April to sit for her Alim exams, attackers lured her to the roof of a cyclone shelter and set her on fire. Her brother, Mahmudul Hasan Noman, then filed an attempted murder case.

Nusrat died on 10 April in the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), having named her attackers before her death. Her brother’s lawsuit then turned into a murder case.

On 24 October 2019, Mamunur Rashid, judge of the Feni Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal, sentenced all 16 defendants to death and fined each of them Tk 1,00,000. The defendants later appealed the verdict to the High Court.

A special bench comprising Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Rana scheduled the date for the final verdict after completing the appeal hearings on 20 August.