High Court orders report on Minny’s confessional statement

The High Court has ordered the lawyer for Aysha Siddika Minny, the wife of Refat Shorif who was brutally killed in Barguna, to submit a report on the superintendent of police’s briefing on her confessional statement.

The bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman passed the orders after hearing Minny’s bail plea on Monday.

It asked ZI Khan Panna, Minny's legal counsel, to provide details as to whether the briefing took place before or after Minny gave her statement and the progression of the case against her so far, including her arrest and where she was interrogated during remand.

He has been given until 2pm on Tuesday to report back to the court.

Minny's legal counsels appealed to the High Court for bail on Aug 5 after she was denied bail twice by the Barguna Senior Judicial Magistrate’s Court and the District and Sessions Judge’s Court.

Her lawyer Panna later withdrew the bail petition from the vacation bench of Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman on Aug 8 after a partial hearing. Then, he moved the bench of Rahim and Rahman for her bail.

Refat was hacked to death on Jun 26 in broad daylight on a Barguna road. A video of Minny's desperate attempts to save her husband went viral on social media. The following day, Refat’s father Dulal Shorif accused 12 people in a case over the murder.

The case took a new turn after Dulal pointed the finger at Minny. Minny was interrogated at the Barguna police superintendent’s office. She was later arrested as ‘initial evidence’ pointed to her involvement in the much-publicised incident, said SP Maruf Hossain.

A Barguna court subsequently granted police a five-day remand to interrogate Minny. She then gave a confessional statement after being produced in court on the third day of the remand, police said.

Later, she appealed to the Senior Judicial Magistrate’s Court for withdrawal of the statement. "The police tortured Minny and compelled her to give a statement," claimed Minny's father.

“Influential local influential politicians are behind it,” he alleged.