A Dhaka tribunal yesterday concluded recording the depositions of prosecution witnesses in a case filed over the killing of SB inspector Mahfuzur Rahman and his wife Swapna Rahman in the capital two years back.
Judge Sayeed Ahmed of the Dhaka’s Speedy Trial Tribunal 3 fixed October 13 for self-defence of the accused. Earlier in the day, the court recorded the deposition and cross-examination of Swapna’s friend Nurjahan Merry.
A total of 38 out of 57 prosecution witnesses testified in the case.
Police produced the victims’ daughter Oishee and her friend Asaduzzaman Jony before the court while another accused Mizanur Rahman Rony, freed on bail, also appeared during the proceedings.
“The accused will give their statements on the depositions of the prosecution witnesses on October 13,” Mahbubur Rahman, special public prosecutor of the tribunal, told the Dhaka Tribune.
“If they cannot produce any clearing witness, the court will begin hearing arguments of the prosecution and the defence – the last stage of the trial,” he added.
According to the case statement, the bodies of Mahfuzur and his wife were found at their Chamelibagh residence on August 16, 2013. Oishee, who had taken her O level examination, surrendered at Paltan police station the following day.
Later, police arrested their house maid Khadiza Khatun Sumi, and Oishee’s friends Jony and Rony.
Two charge sheets were submitted on March 9 last year – one pressed against Oishee and her two friends while the other against Sumi who is under 18. Sumi’s trial proceeding is under way at a juvenile court in Dhaka.
According to the charge sheets, Oishee alone killed her parents while Jony instigated the murders and Rony gave her shelter after the incident. Sumi has been accused of assisting Oishee in concealing the bodies.