The Appellate Division has upheld the High Court's order to transfer the case of a young woman who was gang-raped at the MC College hostel in Sylhet to a speedy trial tribunal.
The Appellate Division issued the order on Monday, after the state withdrew its petition against the High Court's order.
Thus, there are no longer any obstacles preventing the case from being tried in the speedy trial tribunal, as confirmed by the lawyers.
The hearing on behalf of the state was conducted by Additional Attorney General Mohammad Arshadur Rouf, while the petitioner's side was represented by Barristers Abdul Qayyum, Omar Faruq, and Qamrun Mahmud Deepa.
Earlier, on the night of September 25, 2020, some leaders and activists of the Chhatra League gang-raped a woman at the MC College hostel in Sylhet, after binding her husband.
The victim's husband filed a case with Shah Paran police station.
In the case, police filed charges against eight individuals under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act on December 3, 2020.
Later, on August 16, 2022, the High Court issued a rule asking why the trial of the rape case should not be transferred to the speedy trial tribunal.
On August 1 of the same year, a writ petition was filed requesting the transfer of the trial of two charges to the speedy trial tribunal.
On December 15, 2022, the High Court ordered that the case be transferred to the speedy trial tribunal.
The verdict was issued by the High Court bench, consisting of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Ahmed Sohail. Subsequently, the state filed a petition to suspend this order.
