Rape case verdict given in just 7 working days in Bagerhat

For the first time in the country's history, verdict in a rape case has been given within just seven working days.

Bagerhat Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-2 Judge and District and Sessions Judge Md Noor-e-Alam today sentenced an accused to life imprisonment for raping a 7-year-old orphan.

The court also fined the convict Abdul Mannan Sardar with Tk20,000, in default, asked him to serve one more year in jail.

According to the case statement, the orphan girl lives with her uncle. On October 3 afternoon, the accused Mannan, a man in his fifties, called the child to his house and raped her. 

When the incident came to light, the girl's uncle filed a case with the Mongla Police Station under the Women and Child Abuse Prevention Act. Police arrested Mannan that night.

The convict Abdul Mannan is a resident of a landless shelter project area in Mongla upazila of Bagerhat.

The investigating officer of the case Sub-Inspector (SI) of Mongla Police Station, Biswajit Mukherjee, submitted chargesheet against Mannan in the court on October 11, leaving 16 people as witnesses.

As case was sensitive, the Judicial Court referred the case to the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-2. The court took the case into cognizance on October 11 and framed charges the next day. 

On October 13 and 14, the court took the testimony of 16 witnesses including police, doctors and judicial magistrates. On October 15, the court took in the accused's defence witness. After hearing the arguments on Sunday, the court set a date for announcing the verdict.

Gopal Chandra Pal, bench assistant of Bagerhat Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-2 confirmed it to The Business Standard.