‘Sir, catch Dollar – he is also guilty’, Sohel says at court hearing

The court has set Thursday for concluding arguments in the case

Swapna Akter, the wife of Sohel Rana - the prime suspect in the rape and murder of 8-year-old Ramisa Akter, has pleaded not guilty and has sought justice from the court during the defence hearing.

Her husband Sohel also sought justice on Wednesday in response to the judge’s question regarding his plea. He asked for mercy and said: “Sir, catch Dollar - he is also guilty."

On the day of the indictment hearing, Sohel claimed that his only crime was chopping Ramisa’s body into “two pieces”. He alleges a man named Dollar from Mirpur was responsible for her rape and murder and that he paid Sohel Tk 200,000 for acting as his accomplice.

However, police say that Sohel is only making these statements to try and divert attention from his own culpability in the case.

On Wednesday, Sohel and Swapna's defence hearing was held at the court of Judge Masrur Salekin of the Dhaka Child Repression Prevention Tribunal. The judge read out the charges against them. Then the two suspects asked for justice.

The two accused were brought to the court from jail in the morning for the defence hearing. The judge entered the courtroom around 11:10 am.

The judge read out the charges brought against the accused under Section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and spoke regarding the testimonies of 16 people.

The judge then asked whether the accused were guilty or not guilty.

In response, Swapna proclaimed her innocence.

Sohel then sought the judge’s mercy, saying: "Sir, I am not guilty. I want to be acquitted. Please forgive me. Dollar was with me, but no one saw it. Catch him, sir - he is also guilty."

The court then set Thursday for the closing arguments in the case, said Pankaj Peter Gomez, the bench assistant of the court.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court Public Prosecutor Omar Faruq Faruqi and Special Public Prosecutor Azizur Rahman Dulu represented the state at the hearing, while state-appointed lawyer Musa Kalimuliah representing the accused.

On May 19, police recovered the body of Ramisa from a flat in Block B of Section 11 in Pallabi. The incident sparked anger nationwide.

Investigators said the child was killed in the morning inside a neighbouring flat, after which the prime suspect Sohel allegedly dismembered the body before fleeing.

Police apprehended Swapna from the flat, while Sohel was later detained from Fatullah in Narayanganj the same evening.

He later confessed in court, according to police records.

The victim’s father filed a case at Pallabi Police Station on the day of the incident.

The investigating officer, Sub-Inspector Ohiduzzaman of Pallabi Police Station, submitted the chargesheet against the suspects on May 24, after which the case was transferred to the tribunal for trial.

After Eid holidays, Judge Masrur Salekin ordered the case to proceed to trial after framing charges against Sohel and his wife Swapna on Monday.