Man sentenced to life imprisonment for raping stepdaughter
A Chattogram court has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for raping his 16-year-old stepdaughter from his wife's previous marriage.
Judge Ferdous Ara of Chattogram Woman and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal-7 delivered the verdict on Sunday (22 October).
The convict, Mohammad Majid, 54, hails from Gulpasha union under Chauddagram police station in Cumilla.
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Special Public Prosecutor MA Nasser Chowdhury, representing the tribunal, said the verdict was reached after considering the testimonies of three individuals.
"Majid was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Tk1 lakh. He received an additional six-month sentence in failure of paying the fine," Nasser said.
"The accused was present when the verdict was pronounced and was subsequently taken into custody," he added.
According to the case records, the girl lived with her mother and stepfather in a rented house in Mogoltuli Kata Batgach Mor area under Sadarghat police station in the city. The mother worked as a housekeeper, while the stepfather worked as a driver.
On the morning of 9 December 2017, while the mother was away at work, Majid raped the girl. He also threatened to harm both the girl and her mother if she dared to speak about the incident. This pattern of abuse continued. When the girl became pregnant, the truth came to light.
The rape victim filed a case with Sadarghat police station on 2 June 2018. Following an investigation, the charge sheet was submitted to the tribunal on 5 September 2018. The trial commenced on 19 February 2019.
