The High Court has ordered the appointment of state lawyers for Sohel Rana and Swapna Khatun, the two individuals sentenced to death for the brutal rape and murder of eight-year-old Ramisa Akter in Mirpur.
A High Court bench comprising Justice Bhishmadev Chakraborty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja passed the order on Tuesday. Deputy Attorney General Imam Hossain Tarek represented the state.
Earlier on 14 June, the High Court had accepted the jail appeals filed by the two convicts for hearing. The death-row convicts had filed the appeals through prison authorities on 11 June.
On 9 June, the death reference — all case documents — in the Ramisa murder case had already reached the High Court for confirmation of the death sentences.
On 7 June, Judge Masrur Salekin of the Dhaka Metropolitan Child Violence Suppression Tribunal pronounced the death sentence for both accused. The court also fined Sohail Tk5 lakh and Swapna Tk2 lakh, ordering the amount to be paid to Ramisa’s legal heirs.
If the fines are not paid, the court directed the collectorate office to seize the convicts’ movable and immovable property and sell it to provide the amount to the victim’s family.
According to the case complaint, Ramisa was brutally tortured, raped, and murdered on the morning of 19 May inside the flat of a neighbouring tenant.
The victim’s father, Abdul Hannan Molla, filed a case at Pallabi Police Station the following day. Police completed the investigation swiftly and submitted the charge sheet on 24 May. The tribunal accepted the charge sheet the same day and sent the case for trial.
On 1 June, the court formally framed charges against the two accused and began trial proceedings. The following day, testimony from 16 out of 18 witnesses was recorded.
The High Court will now hear the jail appeals alongside the death reference.
