The Magura Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal on Tuesday set May 17 for delivering the verdict in the case of rape and murder of a 8-year-old girl in the district in March this year.
Judge M Zahid Hasan set the date after hearing the case summing up arguments from both the prosecution and defence lawyers, the tribunal鈥檚 public prosecutor Monirul Islam said.
A panel of lawyers, including the tribunal鈥檚 public prosecutor and home ministry鈥檚 law officer Ehsanul Haque Shomaji took part in the argument from the prosecution side.
They sought the highest punishment prescribed in the law for the accused persons.
On April 23, the court framed charges against four, including the prime accused Hitu Sheikh, 50, the father-in-law of the victim鈥檚 sister, while Sajib Sheikh, the husband of the victim鈥檚 sister, and Sajib鈥檚 brother Ratul Sheikh were accused of intimidation and threatening to kill the victim.
They are now in jail and were present on the dock during the hearing.
鈥楾he court had completed the trial process within 21 working days from the charge framing date. The court recorded statements of 29 prosecution witnesses during the trial,鈥� Monirul Islam said.
He said that although prime accused Hitu Sheikh confessed his crime to the court, all accused claimed themselves innocent on April 23 when the charges were framed against them.
Monirul also said that lawyer Sohel Ahmed was appointed as defence lawyer through legal aid following the claim of the accused persons.
On April 13, the police submitted the charge sheet against them.
The eight-year-old girl from Sreepur Upazila in Magura came to visit her elder sister鈥檚 in-laws鈥� house in Magura Sadar Upazila in early March. She was raped there.
On March 6, the victim was taken to a hospital in Magura in an unconscious state and was later shifted to Faridpur Medical College Hospital.
From there, she was shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and then to Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka, where she died on March 13.
On March 8, the victim鈥檚 mother filed a case with Magura Sadar police, naming the four suspects.
The incident triggered widespread anti-rape protests in Dhaka as elsewhere in the country.
