Dhaka teacher sentenced to life in prison for raping 5-year-old student

A Dhaka court has sentenced 24-year-old Md Minhaz Uddin, a teacher of Holy Crescent School in Shewrapara, to life in prison for raping a five-year-old student.

Tanjina Ismail, judge of the fifth Women and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal, also fined him Tk 200,000 on Tuesday for the rape on Mar 11 last year. If he cannot pay the fine, Uddin would have to spend another three years in prison.

The parents of the child found out about the incident when she was crying in pain on her way home from school. They saw blood on her pants when undressing her.

When asked, the five-year-old said the teacher lured her with a chocolate to a washroom of the Holy Crescent School and College and raped her.

She was rushed to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital and her father filed a report with Mirpur Model Police Station mentioning Minhaz Uddin as the culprit while his daughter was undergoing treatment.

Statements of nine witnesses were recorded during the trial, their lawyer, Bangladesh Jatiya Mohila Ainjibi Samiti’s Executive Director Salma Ali, said.

State prosecutor Ali Asgar Swapan said the convict was brought to court from prison during the trial and on the day the judgement was read out.

He added that the court had asked half of the fine to be paid to the family of the victim.