Court Reporter //

The arguments of the state and defense lawyers have begun in the case filed in the rape and murder of eight-year-old Ramisa in Pallabi, Mirpur, in the capital.

The arguments hearing began at 12:15 pm on Thursday (June 4) in the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Child Violence Prevention Tribunal Judge Masrur Salekin.

Meanwhile, accused Sohel Rana and his wife Swapna Khatun were produced in the court at 8 am. They were kept in the Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court’s jail. Accused Sohel Rana was taken to the courtroom at 11:24 am. Before the hearing, accused Swapna Akhter fell ill, so after primary treatment, Swapna was taken to the courtroom at 11:38 am.

During the hearing, Special Public Prosecutor of the case, PP Azizur Rahman Dulu, representing the state, sought the maximum punishment for the accused. On the other hand, state-appointed lawyer Musa Kalimullah is hearing for the accused.

Earlier, on Monday (June 1), the court framed charges against accused Sohel and his wife Swapna and ordered the trial to begin. The next day, it concluded the testimony of 16 out of 18 witnesses included in the charge sheet. Yesterday, the accused claimed innocence in the defense hearing.

On May 24, the tribunal took cognizance of the charge sheet filed against the two accused. Earlier on the same day, the investigating officer of the case, Pallabi Police Station Sub-Inspector Ahiduzzaman, submitted the charge sheet in the court of Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ashraful Haque. Later, the case was sent to the Dhaka Metropolitan Child Violence Prevention Tribunal for trial. A total of 17 people have been called as witnesses for the state in the case.

According to sources in the case, Ramisa was a second-grade student of Popular Model High School. On May 19, around 9:30 am, Swapna sneaked into the room. Around 10:30 am that day, her mother started looking for Ramisa to go to school. At one point, she saw the child’s shoes in front of the accused’s room. After knocking, without receiving any response, Ramisa’s parents and other people from the flat broke the door and entered and found Ramisa’s headless body on the floor of the accused’s bedroom and her head in a large bucket inside the room. After receiving a call through the national emergency service 999, the police arrived at the scene and took Swapna into custody. With the help of information technology, the police were able to arrest Sohel Rana from in front of Fatulla Police Station in Narayanganj district.

On May 20, the victim’s father Abdul Hannan Mollah filed a case with Pallabi Police Station as a plaintiff in this incident.

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