4 women, held on murder charges, asked to appear before High Court

Four women, imprisoned without trial on murder charges for over seven years, have been ordered to appear before the High Court.

The four suspects are Shumi Akhtar Reshman, Shahnaz Begum, Razia Sultana and ‘Rani’ alias ‘Nupur’.

The court has also asked for a ruling as to why the suspects cannot be granted bail.

A High Court bench of Justices M Enayetur Rahman and JBM Hassan gave the order on Wednesday.

Authorities at Kashimpur Women's Central Jail have been ordered to bring the suspects in court by Jan 16, 2017.

The decision was given after Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee Panel Advocate Ainun Nahar Siddique brought the matter before the court.

The four cases

>>Shumi Akhter Reshma, the daughter of Ashraf Ali from Narayanganj’s Dharmaganj, was arrested on Jan 15, 2009 in connection with a murder case filed at Dhala’s Shyampur Police Station. She has been in prison since.

Reshma has appeared before the Dhaka Metropolitan Additional Sessions Judge Court 50 times without trial. The last time she appeared before the court was on Sep 16 of this year.

>>Shahnaz Begum, the daughter of Naraynganj’s Ilmadi village resident Alam Khalashi, has been in prison since 2008. She was arrested on Sep 16 of that year in connection with a murder case at the Dhaka’s Dohar Police Station.

The case is yet to be tried by the Dhaka Additional District and Sessions Judge Court. Shahnaz has appeared before the court 76 times, the last being on Sep 16 this year.

>>Razia Sultana, the daughter of Ukul Uddin who hails from the Bede Bahar area in Gazipur’s Tongi, was arrested on May 21, 2009 in connection with a murder case.

She has appeared before the Dhaka Metropolitan Additional Sessions Judge Court 60 times without a trial. Her last appearance was on Aug 9 this year.

>>’Rania’ alias ‘Nupur’, the daughter of Mymensingh’s Borko Notun Bazar village resident Chan Miah, was arrested in connection with a murder case at Dhaka’s Ramna Police Station on Nov 21, 2009. She has been in prison since.

She has appeared before the Dhaka Special Judge Court 65 times without trial. The last time was on Aug 21 of this year.