A tribunal in Dhaka has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for raping his teenage stepdaughter in the city’s Peyarabagh area under Hatirjheel.
Judge Sabera Sultana Khanam of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal 7 delivered the verdict on Wednesday, convicting Anwar Hossain, 29, from Noakhali, reports Bangla Tribune.
Public Prosecutor Md Abul Kalam Azad, Assistant Public Prosecutor Md Shamsuzzaman Dipu, and Advocate Fahad Mia confirmed the matter to the reporters.
According to the case documents, the girl’s mother, who works as a domestic help in Hatirjheel, filed the rape case at Hatirjheel police station on September 20, 2022.
The investigating officer, Sub-Inspector Md Mizanur Rahman, submitted the charge sheet to the court on April 1, 2023.
Formal trial proceedings began on August 20, 2023, after the court framed charges and fixed the date for recording witness testimonies.
A total of six witnesses, including the rape survivor, testified during the trial.
The case statement reveals that her mother married Anwar after divorcing her first husband.
On August 4, 2022, she left her 14-year-old daughter from her previous marriage at home while she went out for work.
Taking advantage of her absence, Anwar threatened the girl at knifepoint and raped her.
Between August 4 and September 2 of the same year, Anwar raped her multiple times, between 10 and 12 occasions, according to the case file.