Full judgment of High Court published in Nusrat murder case

The High Court has published its full judgment in the sensational murder case of madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi of Feni. The High Court upheld the death sentences of two of the 16 accused awarded by the lower court. The death sentences of four others were reduced to life imprisonment. The remaining 10 accused were acquitted as the charges against them were not proved.

The 112-page full judgment of the High Court bench comprising Justice Bhishmadeb Chakraborty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja was published on the Supreme Court website on Tuesday (September 8). The same bench had earlier pronounced the verdict in the case on August 24.

The High Court upheld the death sentences of Siraj Uddoula, then principal of Sonagazi Islamia Fazil Madrasa, and Shahadat Hossain Shamim. On the other hand, the death sentences of Nur Uddin, Javed Hossain alias Sakhawat Hossain, Saifur Rahman Mohammad Jubayer and Umme Sultana alias Popi were reduced to life imprisonment.

The 10 acquitted accused are Kamrun Nahar Moni, Hafez Abdul Kader, Mahiuddin Shakil, Imran Hossain alias Mamun, Abdur Rahim Sharif, Mohammad Shamim, Iftekhar Uddin Rana, Ruhul Amin, then president of Sonagazi Upazila Awami League, Absar Uddin and Maksud Alam alias Maksud Councillor.

Attorney General Md Ruhul Quddus Kajol said the High Court found that the charges against the 10 accused were not proved beyond reasonable doubt after reviewing the evidence and therefore acquitted them. At the same time, the court considered life imprisonment as the appropriate punishment instead of death for the four accused.

The judgment also contains important observations regarding the sentence awarded by lower court judge Mamunur Rashid, the Attorney General said. The High Court observed that the judge failed to apply the necessary judicial consideration in awarding death sentences to all 16 accused together. The court noted that the sentence was determined without separately evaluating the role and degree of involvement of each accused in the crime. For this reason, the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry has been directed to take necessary steps to withdraw judge Mamunur Rashid from the responsibility of trying criminal cases and determining sentences.

Nusrat’s mother Shirin Akhtar filed a case against Sonagazi Islamia Fazil Madrasa principal Siraj Uddoula on March 27, 2019, accusing him of sexual harassment. Investigation revealed that a plan was made to attack Nusrat with the aim of securing the principal’s release after his arrest.

In continuation of this, Nusrat was taken to the roof of a cyclone shelter by trickery and an attempt was made to burn her to death when she went to the madrasa on April 6 to sit for the Alim examination. She was first taken to Sonagazi Upazila Health Complex and Feni General Hospital in a critically burnt condition before being admitted to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital. She died there on April 10 while under treatment.

Nusrat’s brother Mahmudul Hasan Noman filed the murder case on April 8. The charge sheet was submitted on May 28 after the investigation. A quick trial was completed with the recording of statements of 87 witnesses and arguments in 61 working days. The Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal later sentenced all 16 accused in the case to death on October 24, 2019. The High Court delivered this judgment after re-evaluating the sentences following the hearing of the appeal filed against that verdict.