Staff Reporter :
The documents of the sensational Nusrat Jahan Rafi murder case reached the High Court on Tuesday, as a death reference to examine the trial court verdict that sentenced 16 accused to death.
Officials of the Feni court brought the documents of the case, including the judgement, to the High Court, said Md Saifur Rahman, Special Officer of the HC.
Officials concerned of the HC received the documents, he said, adding that the HC authorities will now prepare paper books for hearing the death reference.
If a lower court sentences any person to death in a case, its judgment is examined by the HC through hearing arguments for confirmation of the death sentence. The case documents and judgment reach as death reference to the HC from the lower court within seven days of the delivery of the verdict. A Feni court on October 24 handed down death sentence to all the 16 accused, including a sacked madrasa principal and two expelled local Awami League leaders, for killing of madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi in April, an incident that shocked the entire nation.
Mamunur Rashid, the judge of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal in Feni, also fined the convicts Tk one lakh each and ordered the district magistrate to give the money to the victim’s parents.
Alim (equivalent to HSC) examinee Nusrat Jahan Rafi, who was set afire in Sonagazi upazila of Feni on April 6, and she succumbed to her injuries at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) Burn and Plastic Surgery unit on April 10.
Rafi, a student of Sonagazi Islamia Senior Fazil Madras, was torched a few minutes before her examination allegedly by students loyal to Principal Sirajuddoula after he was arrested and subsequently suspended as Rafi had accused him of sexually harassing her.
