Man gets life in jail for abducting, raping Viqarunnisa student

The convict is absconding and a warrant has been issued for his arrest

A Dhaka court has sentenced a man to life in prison for the 2017 abduction and rape of a student in ninth grade at Dhaka’s Viqarunnisa Noon School and College.

Dhaka Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Munshi Md Moshiar Rahman delivered the verdict in the case on Tuesday.

The convict, Anis Ahmed Neel, is absconding. The court issued an arrest warrant against him, according to Rashedul Islam, the bench assistant for the tribunal.

On the charge of rape, the judge gave Neel a life sentence in prison and fined him Tk 100,000. A failure to pay the fine will result in an additional year in prison.

On the charge of abduction, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison and a fine of Tk 50,000. A failure to pay the fine will extend the sentence by six months.

The tribunal also instructed the Dhaka District Magistrate to sell the moveable and immovable assets of the suspect to pay the fine to the victim’s family.

The case documents say the student became acquainted with Neel on Facebook. He then began to harass her. Despite efforts from her family to stop it, Neel did not heed them.

Around 2:30pm on Oct 30, 2017, the student left home to attend coaching classes in Azimpur. She did not return home afterwards.

Her father went to Azimpur to find her. When he asked her tutor, he learnt she had not attended the class.

After making inquiries, he learnt that his daughter had been abducted by a group of men, including Neel, from the Borogram Chairman Bari intersection in Kamrangirchar Thana around 2:40pm.

On Nov 8, the girl’s father filed a case at the Kamrangirchar Police Station. Assistant Sub-Inspector Md Mamun filed a chargesheet on Mar 31, 2018 after an investigation, accusing Neel of abduction and rape.

The case documents say that the girl was forced onto an autorickshaw and first taken to Mirpur. From there, she was taken to various other locations, where she was “raped”.

The court then indicted Neel in the case. The tribunal found him guilty after hearing testimonies from nine witnesses.