A court in Patuakhali has sentenced two individuals to 13 years and one to 10 years in prison for the gang rape of the daughter of a July uprising martyr Jashim Uddin in Patuakhali.
All the three convicts are aged below 18 years, and thus were tried under ‘Children Act, 2013.’
Patuakhali Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Nilufar Shirin delivered the verdict on Wednesday morning.
In her ruling, she noted that since the convicts were minors at the time of the crime, they were given the maximum punishment allowed under the Children Act, 2013.’
Following the verdict, Public Prosecutor (PP) Advocate Abdullah Al Noman said, “The case was proven beyond a shadow of doubt. Since the accused, Shakib Munshi, Sifat Munshi and Irfan Munshi, were identified as minors before the trial began, the court sentenced them to 10 years under Section 9(3) of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. Additionally, the court gave Sakib and Sifat Munshi three more years each under Section 8(7) of the Pornography Control Act, bringing their total sentence to 13 years. This judgment, we hope, will bring some peace to Lamia’s soul.”
After the verdict, the defense lawyer Md Shahidul Islam Talukder said, “My clients are innocent. We are not satisfied with the verdict. Once we receive a copy of the judgment, we will appeal to a higher court.”
According to case documents, on 18 March this year, Lamia, the 18-year-old daughter of the late Jasim Uddin, was gang-raped while on her way to her grandparents’ house in Naldoani village, Dumki Upazila, Patuakhali.
After the incident, the accused threatened to spread the victim’s photos on social media. In response, she as a plaintiff filed a case against the three accused with the Dumki Police Station.
Initially, the police arrested one accused named Sakib Munshi. Later, two more accused, Sifat Munshi and Imran Munshi, were also taken into custody.
However, unable to bear the mental trauma over the incident, on 26 April Lamia committed suicide at a house in Dhaka’s Shekhertek area.
Her body was later buried beside her father Jasim Uddin’s grave in Patuakhali.
Jashim was injured when police opened fire in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur on 19 July and died 10 days later while undergoing treatment.
