Testimony in rape, murder Tabassum in Jhenaidah begins today

A Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Jhenaidah is set to begin recording testimonies today (June 17) in the case of a four-year-old girl who was raped and suffocated to death by a neighbour in Kaliganj upazila — just 110 days after the crime.

The tribunal's judge Salehuzzaman formally framed charges against the lone accused, Abu Taher, 35, on Tuesday following a hearing attended by Public Prosecutor Advocate Akilul Islam and state-appointed defence counsel Advocate Tarikul Alam.

Court Inspector Moktar Hossain confirmed the development.

Abu Taher, a sales representative at a cigarette company, was a tenant in Baduragacha village — a short distance from the victim Tabassum's home. On the morning of February 26, he lured the child into his room with the promise of chips and juice, and sexually assaulted her. When she cried out, he pressed his lungi over her mouth and nose. She died of suffocation within minutes.

To conceal the crime, he stuffed her body into a sack and hid it in the septic tank of the adjacent Abdul Jabbar Secondary School that night. He then fled — but was arrested the same night from his brother's rented flat in Kushtia town. He confessed to the rape and killing during interrogation.

The case's investigation officer, Kaliganj Police Station OC Jellal Hossain, had submitted the charge sheet before the tribunal on May 26.

Proceedings in the case are being fast-tracked under a special government directive aimed at its earliest possible disposal.