Rangpur Correspondent :
A Rangpur court on Tuesday delivered its verdict in a rape case in just two working days, setting a record for the fastest disposal of a rape case in Bangladesh.
Rangpur Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal 3 Judge Mustafa Pavel Raihan found the accused Mustafizur Rahman not guilty and acquitted him as the charges brought against him could not be proved.
Speaking to media, Mustafizur’s lawyer Advocate Rois Uddin Badhsha, said: “We have got justice.
“I would like to thank the judge for disposing of this case in only two working days. The crime rate will decline if trials for heinous crimes such as rape are completed quickly.”
Meanwhile, the plaintiff’s lawyer and Special Public Prosecutor Advocate Laizu, said: “The victim was unable to give her statement properly.
“The accused was acquitted as the charges against him couldn’t be proved.”
“However, the judge has created history by delivering a verdict in a rape case in just two working days,” she added.
According to case dockets, on January 8, this year, the accused Mustafizur, with the false promise of marriage, had raped the victim for three consecutive days.
Following the incident, when the victim and her family went to Kaunia police station to file a case, the police officials there refused to accept it. Later, the victim filed a complaint with the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal.
The judge then ordered the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to investigate the complaint based on the victim’s statement. PBI investigated and found evidence of rape and submitted a report to the court. The court then issued an arrest warrant against Mustafizur. The accused later obtained bail from the High Court over the lower court order.
On September 2 this year, the court framed charges against the accused and fixed Monday as the date for recording testimony. After recording the testimony of altogether five witnesses, including the victim, and finishing their cross-examination, the court scheduled Tuesday for a verdict.
At around 5:15pm on Tuesday, after hearing the arguments put forth by the lawyers of the defendant and plaintiff, the judge acquitted Mustafizur as the rape charge against him was not proved. Earlier on November 17, a Kushtia court delivered a rape case verdict in just three working days.
The Kushtia Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Munshi Moshiur Rahman sentenced madrasa superintendent Abdul Quader to life in prison, along with imposing a fine of Tk1 lakh, for raping a female student in the district’s Mirpur upazila.
Until the Rangpur verdict on Tuesday, the Kushtia verdict was the quickest in the country’s history of rape trials.
On October 19, a Bagerhat court sentenced 50-year-old Abdul Mannan Sardar to life in prison for raping a seven-year-old child, only a week after the case went to trial.
