Tutor sentenced to death for raping child in Dhaka

A tribunal has sentenced a tutor to death for raping a 7-year-old girl in Dhaka's Banasree in 2021.

Judge Rukshana Begum of Dhaka's Women and Child Abuse Prevention Tribunal-3 delivered the verdict on Wednesday.

The capital punishment recipient, Zahidul Islam, was also fined Tk 50,000, failure to pay which will result in an additional six months of rigorous imprisonment.

Expressing satisfaction with the verdict, Public Prosecutor Md Sajjad Hossain said: "There should be no leniency for rapists. They should all receive exemplary punishment so that no one dares to commit such an offence in the future."

Defence lawyer Imran Hossain, however, said an appeal against the verdict would be filed at the High Court. "We hope the High Court will acquit him."

Zahidul was brought to court from jail for the verdict. After the ruling, he was taken back to jail.

According to the complaint, Zahidul visited the victim's home to tutor her on Mar 23, 2021. Around 8:30pm that evening, while the child’s parents were working in a garage nearby, they saw Zahidul rushing out of the house. Hearing the child's cries, they quickly returned home. Later, the child revealed that Zahidul had raped her.

The child’s father filed a case with Khilgaon Police Station. Following the investigation, Inspector Rashida Jahan Runa Talukder from the Women Support and Investigation Division pressed charges against Zahidul on Jul 24, 2021.

The court indicted Zahidul on Jan 20 of the following year and began the trial. After hearing the testimonies of 10 witnesses, the court found Zahidul guilty and delivered the verdict on Wednesday.