‘I just dismembered the child’s body, Dollar raped and killed her’: Sohel tells court

Sohel Rana, the main suspect in the rape and murder of eight-year-old schoolgirl Ramisa Akter in Dhaka’s Pallabi is now pinning the blame for the gruesome incident on a man named Dollar.

According to Sohel, he only “dismembered Ramisa’s body into two pieces,” but Dollar, a moneyed man in Mirpur, raped and killed the girl.

On Monday, the Dhaka Metropolitan Child Repression Prevention Tribunal of Judge Masrur Salekin ordered the case to proceed to trial after framing charges against Sohel and his wife Swapna Akter.

On his way from court to prison, Sohel spoke to reporters about Dollar.

Police recovered the body of Ramisa from a flat in the B Block of Section 11 in Pallabi on May 19. The incident sent shock rippling across the country.

Police said that 32-year-old Sohel, who was subletting the flat, severed the child’s head that morning, and then escaped by cutting the window bars of the flat. However, his wife stayed behind. Police then arrested Swapna from the house.

That evening, Sohel was arrested from Narayanganj’s Fatullah.

Ramisa’s father Abdul Hannan Mollah filed a case at Pallabi Police Station that day, accusing two people over the brutal incident. Sohel then gave a “confessional statement” to the court.

Case investigating officer Sub-Inspector Wahiduzzaman filed a chargesheet against the two suspects on May 24 after concluding the investigation in five days.

Sohel was produced in court from Keraniganj Central Jail and Swapna from Kashimpur Jail on Monday for the indictment hearing. They were kept in the lock-up at the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court. Later, they were taken to the dock for the hearing.

The government appointed lawyer Azizur Rahman Dulu, a special public prosecutor, moved the petition to form charges against the defendants.

He said, “Child Ramisa Akter was called home and raped in the bathroom. Ramisa was tied up and tortured until, at one point, she fainted. Later, the accused, thinking she was dead, slit her throat and severed her head from the body in a bid to hide it. At the same time, her hands and feet were severed inside the bathroom.”

Lawyer Dulu said, “On the day of the incident, the victim’s mother called out for Ramisa to send her to school, but could not find her. Later, she broke down in tears when she saw her shoe. At that, people started to gather around. Although the doors of other flats in the building opened, everyone was suspicious when the door of the suspects’ flat remained shut.”

“Later, someone saw blood inside the flat through the window. Then, when they broke the door and entered, they saw that the accused, Sohel Rana, had fled. His wife then told the people there that her husband had committed the crime and fled. Later, the police came and arrested her, and prepared an inquest report. The inquest report said that the murder took place between 9:30am and 11am.”

State-appointed lawyer Musa Kalimullah sought the acquittal of the defendants at the hearing.

In a short statement, he said: “The investigation was concluded in a hurry. The police couldn’t present any witness.”

The defence lawyer also raised objections against the charges framed against the accused.

After hearing both sides, the judge read out the charges against Sohel. At that time, Sohel asked to speak with the court’s permission. The court declined.

Later, the charges against the other accused, Swapna were read out. It was stated that she was involved in the murder and did not stop Sohel from killing Ramisa. Instead, she colluded with him to destroy evidence, which is considered aiding and abetting a crime.

The judge asked Swapna whether she was guilty. Swapna burst into tears while answering. Addressing her husband Sohel, who was in the dock, she said: “Tell me whether I am guilty.”

At that time, Sohel claimed in court that Swapna was “innocent”.

After the hearing, the court framed charges against the two accused and set Tuesday as the first date for recording witness testimony. The judge later left the courtroom.

Then Sohel and Swapna spoke to each other in the dock. Sohel asked his wife not to worry. He said that in his statement, he had told law enforcers that Swapna was “not guilty”.

Around 11:38 am, Swapna was taken from the dock to the jail under police protection. She stared at her husband as she was led away. Sohel was seen trying to reassure her.

After his wife left, Sohel stood in the dock and told the lawyers present, “I did not rape her, I was just cutting up the body. A person named Dollar raped her. I have committed a sin, punish me for that sin.”

Sohel continued to say that Dollar had promised to give him ‘Tk 200,000” if he could bring the girl to him. Police then stopped him from speaking.

On the way from the court to the jail, Sohel kept telling reporters loudly: “Dollar’s house is in Mirpur-11. Dollar is the ‘prime suspect’ in the rape and murder of Ramisa.”

“Dollar raped and murdered the child. You go and get him, you’ll learn everything.

Sohel said, “My wife didn’t help me. My wife’s not at fault. It’s Dollars’ fault. I’m at fault, and Dollar is at fault too. I’m not that guilty. I was just cutting the child in two. Dollar is responsible for raping, and killing the child.”

“ They didn’t perform any DNA test for me. They just processed me automatically. Dollar gave me Tk 200,000. Dollar is a very rich man with lots of money,” Sohel says.

Police recovered the body of Ramisa from a flat in the B Block of Section 11 in Pallabi on May 19.

The complaint said Ramisa lived with her family in a flat in Section 11 of Pallabi. She was a student in second grade of Popular Model High School.

Sohel and Swapna were subletting another flat in the building.

When Ramisa left her house around 9:30am on Tuesday, the suspects allegedly took her to their room on the third floor of the building.

They found Ramisa’s body separated from head in a bucket in the bathroom of the suspect’s residence. Swapna was standing there.

Case investigating officer Sub-Inspector Wahiduzzaman filed a chargesheet against the two suspects on May 24 after concluding the investigation.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ashraful Haque viewed the chargesheet and ordered it to trial, transferring it to the Dhaka Metropolitan Child Repression Prevention Tribunal of Judge Salekin. Judge Salekin then accepted the chargesheet and set Monday for the indictment hearing.

Protests broke out across the country after the brutal rape and murder of Ramisa. People from various organisations and professions held demonstrations demanding a fair investigation into the incident and a speedy trial.