The High Court has ordered to complete the trial of the case filed in the rape of an eight-year-old child in Magura within 180 days.
The Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal has been asked to implement this instruction.
Taking into account the report published in the newspaper, a High Court bench comprising Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury passed this order on Monday.
Barrister Mahsib Hossain brought the report published in the newspaper to the court's attention.
After the hearing, the court ordered the removal of the child's pictures, videos and all matters related to identification from daily newspapers, online news portals and all social media within 24 hours.
In addition, the police, cyber-crime unit, DB and several law enforcement agencies have been ordered to continue their work.
In addition, two social welfare officers have been asked to be appointed within 24 hours to ensure the safety of the child and her sister.
The investigation of the case has been completed within 30 working days and the concerned Women and Child Abuse Prevention Tribunal has been instructed to complete the trial within 180 days.
At that time, the court addressed the lawyers, saying: "It is commendable that you have brought this matter before us in writing. Otherwise, we would have had to issue an order on our own initiative. Our primary role is to send a message."
The court further instructed that necessary measures be taken promptly and, in a separate order, directed authorities to ensure the protection of the rape survivor and her family by enforcing Section 14 of the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Children Act.
Emphasizing public awareness, the court said: "People should be made aware of the crimes punishable under Section 14. Efforts must be made to publicize this section, making it clear that failure to comply will result in punishment."
The law specifies that any news or information related to a crime against a woman or child, including details of legal proceedings, names, addresses, or any identifying information, must not be published in any newspaper or media in a way that reveals the victim’s identity, and violation of this provision can result in imprisonment of up to two years, a fine of up to Tk1 lakh, or both.
Concluding its remarks, the court said: "We have no words to express our sorrow over this incident. Perhaps we could not prevent it, but we must now ensure justice and work towards preventing such crimes in the future."
Meanwhile, the child's mother has filed a case in this incident.
In the case statement, she alleged that her father-in-law raped the child with the help of her husband. Her mother-in-law and brother-in-law knew about the matter. Later, they tried to kill the child to cover up the incident.
On Saturday morning, the child's mother sent a complaint to Magura Sadar police station through her elder sister and father. Accordingly, a case was registered at around 3pm.
In the case, rape and injury through rape were alleged under Section 9 (4) of the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Children Act.
The child's sister's husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law and brother-in-law have been named as accused in the case. They were already in police custody. Later, they were shown arrested.
