Five to hang for rape and murder in Chapainawabganj

A court in Chapainawabganj has handed the death penalty to five people for the rape and murder of a young girl five years ago.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Md Shawkat Ali passed the verdict after the hearing at the district’s Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal – 2 on Thursday.

The five convicts are Nayan Kumar Rabidash, 28, Prashanta Rabidash, 22, Nitai Chandra Rabidash, 26, Subhash Das, 42, and Prashant Rabidash, 24. They have also been fined Tk 100,000 each.

Nayan and Prashanta were in court when the verdict was announced but the other three remain at large.

Three other suspects in the case were acquitted after the state failed to prove the allegations against them.

Police found the body of the victim, Ayesha Khatun, 20, dumped in a ditch in the Sadar Upazila’s Moharajpur, said Additional Public Prosecutor Anjuman Ara Begum, citing the case dossier. 

Sadar Police SI Shamim Akhtar recorded a case against unidentified suspects on Aug 15, 2015 after the post-mortem examination revealed that Ayesha had been murdered after being raped. 

Later, Sadar Police Inspector Sarwar Rahman submitted a charge sheet against eight suspects on Dec 14, 2015. 

The charge sheet stated that the accused Nayan, who was involved in a romantic relationship with Ayesha, called the victim over to meet him before raping her with his accomplices. They later strangled her to death.