Staff Reporter:
Abdul Hannan Molla, father of eight-year-old Ramisa Akter, who was allegedly raped and murdered in Dhaka’s Pallabi area, has demanded the maximum punishment for the two accused Sohel Rana and his wife Swapna Akter as the trial formally got under way.
Speaking before the start of witness testimony at the Dhaka Metropolitan Children Violence Suppression Tribunal on Tuesday (2 June), Abdul Hannan Molla called for justice and the harshest possible sentence for prime accused Sohel Rana and his wife, Swapna Akter.
Several key witnesses, including a magistrate, doctors, evidence-collecting officers and local residents, were scheduled to testify before the court.
Sohel Rana was brought to court from Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj, while Swapna Akter was produced from Kashimpur Prison. Both were kept in the court’s holding facility ahead of the hearing.
On Monday, the tribunal framed charges against the couple and ordered the trial to proceed. Summons were issued to 17 prosecution witnesses, including the complainant.
According to case documents, Ramisa, a Class II student at Popular Model High School, went missing on the morning of 19 May after allegedly being lured into the accused’s flat. Her parents later discovered her body inside the apartment and informed police.
The case was filed by her father on 20 May. Police subsequently arrested Swapna at the scene and later detained Sohel Rana in Narayanganj. Investigators have named 17 witnesses in the case.
The main accused, Sohel Rana, 34, gave a confessional statement before a court on 20 May, admitting that he sexually assaulted and later killed the child.
