A Dhaka tribunal on Sunday sentenced four men to life imprisonment for the gang rape of a young woman in the Ashrafabad area of Kamrangirchar.
The convicts are Shahidul Islam, Saiful Islam, Nizam, and Monir Hossain, alias Sentu.
Judge Munshi Md Moshiur Rahman of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-4 delivered the verdict, also imposing a fine of Tk1 lakh on each of the convicts. Failure to pay the fine will result in an additional year of imprisonment.
According to Prosecutor Ershad Alam George, the court directed the District Magistrate of Dhaka to recover the fine by selling the movable and immovable property of the convicts and depositing the proceeds into the state treasury.
Of the convicts, Saiful Islam remains at large, and the tribunal has issued an arrest warrant against him. The other three were present in court and were sent to jail with a conviction warrant following the announcement of the verdict.
The case details reveal that on the evening of 26 September 2009, the victim had gone to a boat terminal near a flour mill in Ashrafabad with a friend.
After her friend left at around 6:45 pm, the accused forcibly took the victim onto a boat and moved to the middle of the Buriganga River. After throwing the boatman into the water, the men took turns raping the young woman inside the boat.
She was later kept locked in a room at a house. On a tip off, her parents rescued her and admitted her to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). The victim subsequently filed the case herself at the police station.
Following an investigation, SI Shafiqul Islam Shikdar of Kamrangirchar Police Station submitted the chargesheet against the accused on 31 October 2010. The tribunal recorded the testimonies of eight witnesses during the trial proceedings.
