Caretaker gets life-term for raping teenager

A tribunal has sentenced a caretaker to life-term imprisonment for raping a teenage daughter of a tenant in Aganagar, South Keraniganj, four years ago.

Judge of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-4 of Dhaka, Munshi Md Masiur Rahman, announced the verdict on Wednesday.

The convicted accused, Abu Saeed Mollah (55), is a resident of Chandanimohol village under Dighalia Police Station in Khulna. His father's name is Hamid Mollah.

Along with the life sentence, he has also been fined Tk 100,000; in default, he will have to suffer an additional one year of imprisonment.

The tribunal has directed the Dhaka District Magistrate to realise the fine money by selling the convict's movable or immovable properties and ensure it is paid to the victim, said the tribunal's prosecutor, Md Ershad Alam.

He said the accused was sent to jail with a conviction warrant after the verdict was announced.

According to the case statement, "The 13-year-old victim's family lived in a rented house beside the small mosque in Aganagar, South Keraniganj. Saeed Mollah worked as the caretaker of that building. He often made indecent proposals to the victim. On 2 August 2021, around 2:00pm, the girl came downstairs from her flat to look for her brother. The accused forcefully took her to the roof and raped her. On 23 September, he raped her again by threatening her. Later, the girl informed her family about the incident."

The following day, her mother filed a case with the police station. Subsequently, Sub-Inspector Ali Jinnah of South Keraniganj Police Station, after investigating the case, submitted the charge sheet against Saeed Mollah to the court on 31 August the following year.

Thereafter, the trial began with the framing of charges against the accused. During the trial proceedings, the court recorded testimonies from eight witnesses. After concluding the hearing of arguments and the defendant's self-defence, the tribunal announced the verdict today.