Court jails man for life over rape of Dhaka University student

A court has sentenced 'Mojnu', the lone suspect in the rape of Dhaka University student earlier this year, to life imprisonment.

Judge Kamrunnahar of Dhaka’s Seventh Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal, passed the verdict in the much-publicised on Thursday.

According to the case filed by the victim’s father, Mojnu dragged the Dhaka University student into a roadside bush near the golf club at Kurmitola on Jan 5 evening and raped her there when she mistakenly got off a bus while going to a friend’s house.

Amid protests on the campus and elsewhere, the Rapid Action Battalion arrested him three days later by tracking the mobile phone he stole from the victim.

Mojnu, a 30-year-old street hawker, is also accused of raping beggars and mugging unsuspecting pedestrians.

He gave a confessional statement to the court in the case on Jan 16 and the Detective Branch of police charged him in court on Mar 16.

Mojnu was tried in an old law that prescribes life imprisonment as the highest punishment for rape, before the new legal framework that elevated the maximum penalty for the offence to death came into effect. He must also pay a fine of Tk 50,000 or risk facing an additional six-month prison term.

Upon arriving in the court premises from jail around 2 pm, Mojnu began raising a ruckus as he cursed out at police officers while pleading with everyone around for his release. "Please let me go! I'll go home and never come back to Dhaka. Please let me go," he was heard saying.

Once in the courtroom, he exclaimed: "I'm crazy Mojnu. Let me go today. They beat me...there are mosquitoes in Kashimpur (Central Jail) and they don't give me anything to eat."

The judge subsequently ordered journalists and curious lawyers to leave, with the verdict being announced in a closed room in the presence of a few senior lawyers.

As Mojnu failed to secure legal representation, Rabiul Islam Robi of Dhaka District Legal Aid was tasked with the responsibility of handling the case on his behalf.

Speaking to reporters after the verdict, Rabiul said, "The court has said the state has been able to prove the allegations with the evidence they presented. And as the defence counsel, I will say that the accused has not received justice so he can appeal the verdict.”

Asked about Mojnu's antics before the verdict, the lawyer said, "He is naturally like that. Today, when people asked if he committed rape or not, he started behaving abnormally.”

Expressing satisfaction with the verdict, state prosecutor Afroza Farhana Ahmed told bdnews24.com: "The student was shown 20 pictures, including that of Mojnu. She later identified Mojnu as the rapist."

"Furthermore, microbiological reports and DNA tests also point to Mojnu's involvement.”