Court concludes Shifat's death as suicide, orders 10-years jail term for husband

The verdict in the case over the death of former Rajshahi University student Waheeda Shifat has concluded it as a suicide and convicted the husband of inciting it.

Court Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 27 Feb 2017, 08:18 AM
Updated : 27 Feb 2017, 10:33 AM

In March 2015, the journalism student was found dead at the house of her in-laws in Rajshahi City.

A speedy trials tribunal in Dhaka ordered 10 years in prison for Mohammad Asif Prisley after finding him guilty of inciting the suicide.

The court acquitted three others − Prisley's parents Hossain Mohammad Ramzan and Nazmun Nahar Nazli, and Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) forensic department chief Zobaidur Rahman.

On Monday, Judge Sayeed Ahmed of Dhaka's Third Speedy Trials Tribunal delivered the verdict in the two-year-old death with the defendants on the docks.

The convict has been also fined by Tk 10,000, failing to pay which will cause another six months in prison.

The court said in verdict that the charges, leveled on the victim's in-laws and the RMCH forensic expert, have not been proven.

The victim's family said they were disappointed with the verdict and that they would challenge it in the High Court.

The judge said that police had filed the chargesheet without determining whether it was a suicide or a homicide.

"The police itself was in the dark. Without solving that issue they submitted the chargesheet. The charges of torturing for dowry has not been proven," said Judge Sayeed Ahmed.

After Shifat was found dead on the evening of Mar 29, 2015, her husband's family claimed she had committed suicide.

The victim's family started a murder case with police in Rajshahi the next day.

An autopsy conducted at the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital concluded that it was a suicide, but a second autopsy at the Rangpur Medical College Hospital found evidences suggesting it to be a homicide.

Forensic experts in Rangpur said the body bore several injury marks.

Rajshahi police's Detective Branch was in charge of the investigation, which was later handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

In March last year, the CID pressed charges against the four and submitted its report to the court of Rajshahi's chief metropolitan magistrate.

Investigators said the victim died of injuries, but her husband and in-laws tried to cover it up by claiming it a suicide.

They also said that Zobaidur Rahman, who performed the first autopsy, concealed the fact of injuries on the body and filed a' false report' of suicide.

The four had been booked under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act and accused of murder for dowry.

In July last year, the case was transferred to the speedy trial tribunal in Dhaka following a petition by the plaintiff.