One year on, Nusrat’s family still wait to see execution of verdict

Although one year has passed since a tribunal delivered its verdict in Feni madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi murder case, her family’s wait to see the execution of the verdict is yet to end.

During a visit to the victim’s residence, the UNB correspondent found that police are providing security to her family members. The brutal killing of Nusrat is still haunting her parents and brother.

Nusrat’s brother, Mahmudul Hasan Noman, said, “We’ve got the verdict and we want its execution soon. This is unfortunate that no step has been taken yet to execute it!”

He also demanded immediate steps to execute the verdict after hearing the appeal petition of the four death-row convicts.

On October 29, 2019, the death reference of the tribunal reached the High Court, said plaintiff’s lawyer advocate M Shahjahan Saju.

The Chief Justice has formed a bench for hearing the appeal and the hearing will be held on priority basis as soon as the Covid-9 situation improves, he said.

The gruesome killing

Nusrat was set on fire on April 6, last year on the roof of a madrasa she attended by people loyal to principal Sirajuddowla whom she had accused of sexually harassing her.               

She succumbed to her injuries four days later at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

A case was filed with Sonagazi Police Station on April 8. Police pressed charges in court against 16 people.

The accused are madrasa principal SM Sirajuddowla, Awami League leader Ruhul Amin, Shahadat Hossain Shamim, Nur Uddin, Imran Hossain Mamun, Hafez Abdul Quader, Iftekhar Uddin Rana, Councillor Maksud Alam alias Moksud, Kamrunnahar Moni, Saifur Rahman Mohammad Zobair, Javed, Umme Sultana Popy, Mohiuddin Shakil, Mohammad Shamim, Abdur Rahim Sharif and Absar Uddin.

Twelve of the accused reportedly confessed to their involvement in the killing of Nusrat, a student of Sonagazi Islamia Madrasah.

Verdict

A tribunal in Feni sentenced the 16 people to death for their roles in killing Nusrat on October 24, 2019.

The tribunal also fined the convicts Tk 100,000 each.

On May 10, 2019, Moazzem Hossain, the then officer-in-charge of Sonagazi Model Police Station, was suspended in connection with the murder.

He was accused of unlawfully interrogating Nusrat and recording it on phone. A video of the interrogation went viral on social media, prompting a lawyer to file a case against him on April 15 under the Digital Security Act.