Court Reporter //

The Appellate Division has upheld the High Court’s order transferring the case of gang rape of a young woman in Sylhet’s MC College dormitory to the fast-track tribunal.

The Appellate Division, headed by Justice Md. Ashfaqul Islam, gave this order on Monday after the state withdrew its appeal against the High Court’s order.

Additional Attorney General Arshadur Rouf heard the case in court for the state. Barrister Abdul Qayyum, Barrister Omar Faruk, and Barrister Kamarun Mahmud Deepa were in favor of the writ.

Earlier, on December 15, 2022, the High Court ordered the transfer of the case to the fast-track tribunal. The High Court bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Ahmed Sohel gave this verdict. Later, the state filed an application seeking a stay of this order.

On August 16, 2022, the High Court issued a rule asking why the trial of the rape case should not be directed to be conducted in a speedy trial tribunal. On August 1 of the same year, a writ was filed seeking directions to conduct the trial of the two charges in a speedy trial tribunal.

On the night of September 25, 2020, some Chhatra League leaders and activists tied up their husbands and gang-raped their wives in the MC College dormitory in Sylhet. The victim’s husband filed a case with Shah Paran Police Station as the plaintiff in this incident.

The police charged eight people in the case and filed a chargesheet in the court on December 3 of the same year under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.

The chargesheet in the rape case states that six of the eight people were directly involved in the rape, while the rest cooperated.

Those directly involved are Saifur Rahman, Shah Mahbubur Rahman Roni, Tarequl Islam Tarek, Arjun Laskar, Ainuddin alias Ainul and Misbaul Islam Rajan Mia.

And the accused Rabiul Islam and Mahfuzur Rahman Masum were charged with aiding and abetting the rape.