The High Court has commenced hearings on death reference and appeal filed by death row convict Hitu Sheikh in connection with rape and murder of child Asyia in Magura.
A High Court bench comprising Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja is hearing the matter.
Deputy Attorney General Imam Hossain Tareq, along with Assistant Attorneys General Rohani Siddika and Mahbuba Tasnim Akhi, represented the state.
According to the case details, on the night of 5 March last year, Hitu Sheikh, father-in-law of eight-year-old Asiya’s sister, raped and attempted to murder Asyia when she went to visit her sister’s husband’s house in Nijnananduali area of Magura Sadar.
Following the incident, the victim’s mother filed a case on 8 March against four individuals, including Hitu Sheikh. Asyia later died while undergoing treatment at Dhaka Combined Military Hospital (CMH).
The police submitted charge sheet for the case on 13 April that year. On 23 April, the trial commenced with framing of charges. The judicial proceedings of this highly publicised case were completed in just 13 working days.
On 17 May, Magura Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal sentenced Hitu Sheikh to death and fined him Tk100,000, while acquitting the other three accused. All documents of the case were sent to the High Court as a death reference on 21 May that year.
Hitu Sheikh filed an appeal with the High Court against the trial court’s verdict on 25 June last year. On 1 July last year, the High Court admitted the appeal for hearing and stayed the fine imposed by the trial court.
The commencement of the hearing follows a report published in TIMES of Bangladesh on 1 June last year, titled “Swift verdicts snag in HC logjam.”
The report highlighted that although lower courts deliver quick verdicts in sensational cases, their implementation is often delayed due to backlogs in the higher judiciary. It particularly focused on the long delays in resolving death references and appeals in child rape and murder cases.
Legal experts in the report stressed necessity of forming separate or special benches for speedy hearings of serious crimes like child rape and murder.
Following this, on 10 June, the chief justice constituted a special bench comprising Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja to hear death references and appeals of women and children repression cases on a priority basis.
On 14 June, the Asiya rape and murder case was listed for hearing before this specialised bench.
