Staff Reporter:
A Dhaka court on Monday framed charges against the accused couple, Sohel Rana and Swapna Akter, formally beginning the trial in a case over the rape and murder of eight-year-old Ramisa Akter in the Pallabi area of the capital.
Judge Masrur Salekeen of the Dhaka Metropolitan Children Violence Suppression Tribunal framed the charges and fixed Tuesday for the recording of witness testimony.
Earlier on Monday, the accused were brought from jail to court around 7:30am for the charge-framing hearing and were later produced before the court around 11am.
When produced in the dock, accused Swapna fell ill. Police personnel on duty sprinkled water on her face, after which she regained some stability.
During the hearing, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court Public Prosecutor Omar Faruk Faruqi and state-appointed Special Public Prosecutor Azizur Rahman Dulu argued in favour of framing charges against the accused.
On the other hand, state-appointed defence lawyer Musa Kalimullah pleaded for their acquittal. After hearing both sides, the court rejected the discharge petition and ordered that charges be framed.
During the hearing, the court also asked the accused whether they pleaded guilty or not, to which they claimed to be innocent. Accused Sohel Rana also stated that his wife had no involvement in the incident.
However, after the hearing, Sohel provided contradictory information at different times while being taken from the courtroom dock to the court prison cell and later to the prison van.
While being taken back to the court’s prison cell, Sohel told journalists, “You should catch the main accused, Dolar… he did this.”
When asked about Dolar’s identity, he said, “He lives in Mirpur 11. Dolar committed the rape and also the murder. My wife did not help; she has no fault. I have some fault, but Dolar is also guilty.”
In the meantime, Sohel also claimed that he was not the only criminal, adding that he had merely taken the girl into the room and dismembered the body in an attempt to conceal the crime.
He also claimed that no DNA test had been conducted, alleging that it had been “automatically written”. He further claimed, “Dolar gave me Tk2 lakh. Dolar is the main accused. He is very wealthy.”
While being taken to prison again, from inside the prison van, Sohel said, “I have committed sins, and Dolar has too. I only tried to hide the body, but I could not. If you catch Dolar, you will find everything.”
However, the investigating officer of the case, Sub-Inspector Oheduzzaman of Pallabi Police Station, brushed aside Sohel’s claim regarding the involvement of a third individual, Dolar, saying, “Initially, when he mentioned Dolar’s name, we verified the matter but found no evidence linking him to the incident.”
When asked whether investigators had found any evidence of a third person’s presence at the crime scene, he said, “After he mentioned Dolar’s name, we analysed Dolar’s mobile phone records, location data and the people he was with at the relevant time. We found no evidence linking him to the crime. This might be an attempt to divert the investigation, possibly motivated by personal enmity.”
Regarding Monday’s development, state-appointed Special Public Prosecutor Advocate Azizur Rahman Dulu said that the accused had tried to destroy evidence by washing the victim’s genital area, a matter that was also mentioned in the charge sheet.
Regarding the accused’s mention of Dolar’s name, the state prosecutor further said that the accused had not made any such statement before the court and was attempting to mislead the public through the media.
“However, there is no reason why an accused should be allowed to make such remarks in front of the media. We will request the authorities to ensure that he is not allowed to make similar statements to the media in the future,” the prosecution added.
Meanwhile, the government-appointed defence counsel, Advocate Musa Kalimullah, said that the accused had not informed him of anything about Dolar. “The accused have maintained that they are innocent. We believe justice will be served based on the evidence and witness testimony.”
On 24 May, the investigating officer submitted the charge sheet against accused Sohel Rana and his wife Swapna Akter to the court.
Later, the charge sheet was presented before the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ashraful Haque, who ordered the case to be transferred to the Dhaka Child Violence Prevention Tribunal for trial.
On the same day, Judge Masrur Salekin of the Children Violence Suppression Tribunal took cognisance of the charge sheet and set 1 June for the charge framing hearing.
Around 9:30am on 19 May, Ramisa Akter, a second-grade student of Popular Model High School, left her home when the accused allegedly lured her to their flat.
After a search, family members and neighbours forced entry into the residence and discovered the child’s decapitated body in a bedroom, while her severed head was found in a bucket inside the bathroom.
Following the incident, Swapna was detained at the scene, and Sohel fled the scene by cutting through a window grille. He was later arrested in Narayanganj. Both accused have given confessional statements before the court.
