High Court shows five reasons behind commuting Oishee's death sentence

The High Court has shown five reasons behind commuting the death sentence of Oishee Rahman to life imprisonment for murdering her parents.

The Supreme Court published the full version of the verdict on its website on Sunday.

The bench of Justice Jahangir Hossain and Justice Md Jahangir Hossain issued the verdict on June 5 this year.

Oishee was sentenced to death by a Dhaka speedy trial tribunal in November 2015 for murdering her father, police inspector Mahfuzur Rahman and mother Swapna Rahman on Aug 16, 2013.

The HC judges observed in the full verdict that Oishee had committed the double murder without any apparent motive and was suffering from 'mental derailment' or some sort of mental disorder and also from ovarian cyst and bronchial asthma.

It noted that her paternal grandmother and maternal uncle had a history of psychiatric disorders.

The verdict mentioned her age - 19 - when the murders took place in 2013, "just immediately after her attaining the majority".

It mentioned that she had no such significant history of prior criminal activity and surrendered to the police station soon after the occurrence willingly.

"In the present case, considering the social disruption learned trial judge in his findings showed some sort of emotion on how the condemned prisoner dared to kill her parents brutally by her own hands, but there is no scope to show such emotion in determination of awarding sentence or during adjudication of justice," the High Court judges observed.

Police pressed charges against Oishee, her two friends and house help Khadija Akter Sumi in the case filed by the slain police officer’s brother Mashiur Rahman.

The trial court’s order of two-year imprisonment for Oishee’s friend Mizanur Rahman has been upheld.

Oishee’s another friend Asaduzzaman Jony was acquitted in 2015.

The underage house help is being tried by a juvenile court.