A Dhaka court will announce the verdict on Sunday in the much-discussed case filed over the rape and murder of an eight-year-old schoolgirl in the capital’s Pallabi.
The verdict date was set after the state and the accused presented their arguments in the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Child Violence Prevention Tribunal Judge Masrur Salekin on Thursday. The matter was confirmed by the tribunal’s bench assistant Pankaj Peter Gomez.
In court, state prosecutor Azizur Rahman Dulu claimed that the charges against the accused — Sohel Rana and his wife Swapna Akhter — were proven beyond doubt and requested the maximum penalty of death. On the other hand, state-appointed defence lawyer Musa Kalimullah requested life imprisonment for Sohel Rana and a lesser sentence under Section 201 of the Penal Code for Swapna Akhter.
According to the prosecution, Sohel Rana took the child to the bathroom, raped her, slit her throat, and later escaped by cutting the grill. Swapna Akhter assisted him in these acts. The charges against the two accused were proven through testimony, interrogation, and other evidence from 16 witnesses.
The defence argued that forensic examination of several signs in the case had not been done and claimed there was no direct evidence of Swapna Akhter’s involvement in the murder.
Earlier, during the defence hearing, Swapna pleaded not guilty and prayed for justice, while Sohel Rana apologized to the court, pleaded not guilty, and sought acquittal.
During the trial, testimony from 16 out of 18 witnesses was recorded. Police recovered the headless body of the child from a flat in Pallabi on May 19. Her severed head was later found in a bucket in the bathroom.
After the incident, Sohel Rana fled but was arrested from Narayanganj’s Fatulla area the same evening. His wife Swapna Akhter was arrested from the scene. Police investigation revealed that the accused lured the child to their flat after she left home for school, where she was raped and killed. Her head was severed to conceal the crime.
On the day of the incident, the child’s father filed a case against Sohel Rana and Swapna Akhter at Pallabi Police Station. After investigation, SI Ahiduzzaman submitted the charge sheet on May 24, which was later sent to the Dhaka Metropolitan Child Violence Prevention Tribunal for trial.
