A Chittagong court has sentenced a former police officer to life imprisonment for attempting to rape a college student in 2011.
Judge Ferdous Ara of Chittagong Woman and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal-7 gave the verdict, said Khandkar Ariful Alam, Public Prosecutor (PP) of the tribunal.
The convict was identified as Mizanur Rahman.
At the time of the incident, he was working as an inspector (investigation) at Kasba police station in Brahmanbaria district.
Prior to that, he also served as a sub-inspector (SI) at Panchlaish police station in Chittagong.
PP Khandkar Ariful Alam said: "The court sentenced the accused to life imprisonment and fined Tk200,000 under section 7 of the Woman and Child Repression Prevention Act as the allegation of abduction of the college girl was proved. The charge of attempted rape was also proved, resulting in a sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of Tk100,000 under Section 9 (4)-B of the same act. In default of which, he would have to spend another year in jail.”
In the verdict, the court made it clear that the sentences for both sections will run concurrently, and the duration of detention following arrest will be subtracted from the sentence period.
According to case documents, on July 12, 2011, Mizanur Rahman forcibly took an eleventh-grade student from a private college and her friend from the Foy's Lake area of the city.
He took them to a private residential hotel in the Chawkbazar area.
Mizan locked both the girls in different rooms and attempted to rape the eleventh grader.
However, she locked herself in the room’s washroom and fell unconscious after cutting her hand with glass.
On July 16 of that year, the girl's father filed two cases against Mizanur Rahman and two others at the city's Panchlaish police station. The other two accused were employees of the hotel.
The first case was filed for the attempt to rape and another for abduction.
Following the incident, Mizanur was on the run for about three and a half months before surrendering in the Chittagong Metropolitan Magistrate's Court on October 31, 2011.
He was subsequently sent to jail and was released on bail in July 2012 as per a High Court order.
In this regard, PP Khandkar Ariful Alam said: "The case involves three accused individuals; however, the proceedings for two individuals have been suspended by order of the High Court. Mizanur Rahman, however, has undergone the entire judicial process.”