Staff Reporter:
A Dhaka court on Tuesday sentenced a man to life imprisonment for abducting and raping a ninth-grade student of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College in Kamrangirchar.
Judge Munshi Md. Mashiar Rahman of Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-4 handed down the verdict.
Convict Anis Ahmed Neel, 35, was also fined Tk 1 lakh for rape. For the abduction charge, he received 14 years of rigorous imprisonment and an additional Tk 50,000 fine.
Public prosecutor Ershad Alam said that as the accused is absconding, the sentence will be enforced once he surrenders or is arrested by police.
According to the case statement, Neel initially contacted the victim via Facebook and repeatedly harassed her over time.
On October 30, 2017, the girl left home around 2:30 pm to attend a coaching centre but did not return. Her father, who later lodged complaints with the local police station, learned from the coaching teacher that she had not arrived.
Further inquiries revealed that at 3:4 pm, while the girl reached Borogram Chairman’s house in Kamrangirchar, Neel and three or four unidentified men forcibly abducted her in a vehicle.
Following the incident, the victim’s father filed a case with Kamrangirchar Police Station.
After an investigation, police submitted the chargesheet on March 31 next year.
The court later framed charges against Neel and recorded testimony from nine witnesses during the trial.
