Police have submitted a chargesheet to the court accusing Sohel Rana and his wife, Swapna Akter, in connection with the rape and murder of eight-year-old schoolgirl Ramisa Akter in the capital’s Pallabi area.
The chargesheet was submitted to the prosecution department on Sunday by Sub-Inspector Ohiduzzaman, the investigating officer of the case at Pallabi Police Station.
Deputy Commissioner Mia Mohammad Ashish Bin Hasan of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Prosecution Division confirmed that the charge sheet was filed with the Women and Children General Register (GR) branch of Pallabi Police Station.
According to court sources, a hearing regarding the acceptance of the chargesheet will be held at the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court, followed by a case transfer order.
A hearing for the framing of charges was scheduled to take place on Sunday in the court of Judge Masrur Salekin of the Dhaka Metropolitan Children Violence Suppression Tribunal of Dhaka
The victim Ramisa Akter was a second-grade student at Popular Model High School.
The case documents reveal that on the morning of 29 May around 9:30am, the accused Swapna Akter lured the child into their flat.
When Ramisa’s parents began searching for her an hour later, they found her shoes outside the suspects’ room.
Upon receiving no response from within, the parents and neighbours forced entry into the flat.
They were met with a horrific scene- Ramisa’s headless body lay on the bedroom floor, while her severed head was found inside a large bucket.
Swapna Akter, who was present at the scene, allegedly told witnesses that her husband Sohel Rana had confined Ramisa in the bathroom and forcibly raped her and slit her throat.
To dispose of the evidence, the attackers used a sharp knife to sever the child’s head and partially detached both arms from the shoulders.
The body had been moved from the bathroom and hidden under a bed, while the head was placed in a bucket.
Sohel Rana initially managed to flee the scene by cutting through the window grills as a crowd gathered.
He was subsequently apprehended by police in front of the Fatullah Police Station in Narayanganj.
On 20 May, Sohel Rana provided a confessional statement before the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Aminul Islam Junaid.
His wife Swapna Akter was also produced before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Md Ashraful Huq and was subsequently sent to jail.
