A court has sentenced one former Chhatra League activist to death and three others to life imprisonment in the widely discussed 2020 gang rape case involving a housewife at the MC College hostel in Sylhet. Four other accused were acquitted.
Judge Swapan Kumar Sarkar of the Sylhet Speedy Trial Tribunal delivered the verdict on Tuesday.
Special Public Prosecutor (PP) Advocate Abul Hossain confirmed the verdict.
According to the judgment, Saifur Rahman was sentenced to death, while Tarekul Islam Tarek, Arjun Laskar and Shah Md Mahbubur Rahman Rony were sentenced to life imprisonment.
The four acquitted are Rabiul Islam, Mahfuzur Rahman Masum, Ainuddin alias Ainul, and Mizbaul Islam Rajan.
The court also sentenced the three convicts given life imprisonment to an additional 14 years' imprisonment under another section of the law. They were each fined Tk1 lakh, with an additional six months' rigorous imprisonment in default of payment, along with a separate Tk50,000 fine under the relevant provision.
The PP said the trial had remained stalled for years under the previous government due to inadequate investigation and failure to present sufficient evidence.
"Had a proper investigation been conducted and the evidence presented appropriately, everyone involved could have been punished. Following the political change in 2024, the trial resumed and reached its conclusion," he said.
The tribunal heard testimony from 25 witnesses, including the survivor, her husband, the investigating officer, the magistrate who recorded the confessional statements of the accused, and a forensic doctor from Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital.
The incident occurred on September 25, 2020, when a newlywed couple visited the MC College campus. According to the prosecution, a group of men forcibly took them to the college hostel, confined the husband, and gang-raped the woman inside their private car. The attackers also robbed the couple of cash and gold ornaments and took away the car keys.
The survivor's husband later filed a case with Shahparan (R) Police Station, naming six accused and several unidentified individuals.
The incident sparked nationwide outrage and renewed demands for tougher anti-rape laws. Subsequently, Parliament passed the Women and Children Repression Prevention (Amendment) Act, 2020, introducing the death penalty as the maximum punishment for rape.
Police submitted the charge sheet in the rape case on December 3, 2020, accusing eight people. A separate charge sheet was also filed against Saifur Rahman and Shah Md Mahbubur Rahman Rony under the Arms Act over weapons recovered during the investigation.
All eight accused were arrested following the incident and later gave confessional statements before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.