One man has been sentenced to death and three to life imprisonment in the widely discussed case over the gang rape of a young woman at the MC College hostel in Sylhet. The remaining four accused were acquitted. Judge Swapan Kumar Sarkar of Sylhet’s Speedy Trial Tribunal delivered the verdict on Tuesday afternoon, nearly five years and 10 months after the incident.
The verdict sentenced Saifur Rahman to death. Shah Mahbubur Rahman (Rony), Tarekul Islam (Tarek) and Arjun Laskar were sentenced to life imprisonment. Those acquitted are Ainuddin, Misbaul Islam Rajon, Rabiul and Mahfuzur Rahman. Court sources said that after the case was transferred to the Speedy Trial Tribunal, a total of 24 witnesses testified, including the young woman who was assaulted, her husband, the investigating officer, a judicial magistrate, a teacher of MC College and a doctor from the forensic department of Osmani Medical College Hospital.
According to the case, on the evening of September 25, 2020, a couple’s private car was stopped in front of the main gate of MC College as they were returning from the Shahparan shrine area, and several young men took them to the college hostel. There, the husband was held while the young woman was gang-raped inside the car. The accused were also alleged to have snatched money from the couple and detained their car. On the night of the incident, the victim’s husband filed a case at Shahparan police station naming six people. During the investigation, the involvement of two more people was identified. Within three days, all eight accused were arrested in operations by police and RAB. Some of the accused gave confessional statements in court, and DNA testing matched six of the eight accused with the evidence, the investigation report said. On December 3, 2021, the then inspector (investigation) of Shahparan police station, Indranil Bhattacharya, submitted a charge sheet against the eight.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report