The case filed over the death of Feni madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi has been transferred to Feni’s Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal. The hearing on the case will be held on June 10. Feni court of Senior judicial magistrate, Jakir Hossain, decided on the date after the hearing on Thursday. The 16 accused in the charge sheet-along with five other arrestees-were produced before the court.
In the 808-page charge sheet submitted on Wednesday, principal of Sonagazi Islamia Senior Fazil Madrasa SM Siraj Ud Doula and 15 others were charged for the brutal killing of 18-year-old girl Rafi. The court acquitted five out of the 21 accused. Regarding the acquittals, plaintiff’s lawyer M Shajahan said a decision on the matter would be taken after discussions with the victim’s family and scrutinisation of the charge sheet. After Nusrat’s death, a video clip had emerged on social media exposing OC police’s wilful negligence in not helping her when she cried and desperately sought law enforcers’ assistance against Principal Siraj Ud Doula for sexual harassment. The OC made fun of her and recorded his ugly conversation with her and posted on facebook. His criminal mind is clear.
We find it highly surprising, in the charge sheet SM Siraj Ud Doula has been shown as the instigator while local Awami League leaders Ruhul Amin and Maksud Alam have respectively been cited as financier and shelter provider to others accused in the case. But former Sonagazi OC Moazzem Hossain was not named in the charge sheet.
When asked why former OC Moazzem was not named in the charge sheet, the PBI top brass said a probe team formed by the PBI headquarters had submitted a report on Moazzem to police headquarters. Necessary legal action would be taken in line with the information present in that report. That is different from murder investigation. There cannot any investigation in the death of Nusrat without showing involvement of the OC concerned. It is not unknown that in the prevailing situation impunity for the police complicit in crimes with local political leaders.
The Dhaka Cyber Tribunal on May 27 issued an arrest warrant for OC Moazzem and directed the PBI to submit a probe report. The probe report said OC himself had recorded the video on camera and later made it viral. After knowing this conduct of the OC the police administration should have dismissed the OC for gross misconduct. Please give due importance to police discipline.
It’s really disturbing when we see that all the 16 people accused in the charge sheet have been arrested and of them nine people gave confessional statements. Only OC Moazzem was excluded. That means unfortunately the police high-ups are still under pressure to save him.
Despite the reality that if the OC Moazzem tried to help Nusrat she would have been alive today. When a gang of people had to be charged for the murder then it is clear that they were engaged in sexual offences in the locality with connivance of the local OC. In our view OC Moazzem and not Siraj Ud Doula who is said to have given the order from jail to take the victim’s life, should have been the number one accused in the savage murder of student Nusrat.
The case against the OC under Digital Act is a bluff. We demand him to be accused in the murder case. Nothing short of that will have faith in police generally and police investigation in particular. The victim’s relations have refused to accept the charge sheet leaving out the OC. The police authority must not protect the heartless culprit police officer at the cost of the reputation of the entire police force.
