A Sylhet court on Tuesday sentenced one person to death and three others to life imprisonment in the widely discussed case of the gang rape of a newlywed woman at the dormitory of Murari Chand (MC) College in 2020.
Four other accused were acquitted as the charges against them were not proven.
Sylhet Speedy Trial Tribunal Judge Swapan Kumar Sarkar delivered the verdict on Tuesday afternoon.
Sylhet Speedy Trial Tribunal Special Public Prosecutor Advocate Abul Hossain confirmed the verdict, saying the court sentenced Saifur Rahman to death and fined him 1 lakh taka.
He said Saifur would be executed by hanging if the death sentence is upheld by the High Court. As he was awarded capital punishment, no additional sentence was imposed. He has the right to appeal against the verdict within 60 days.
The court sentenced Shah Mahbubur Rahman Rony, Tarekul Islam and Arjun Lashkar to life imprisonment and fined each of them 1 lakh taka. They were also handed 14 years of rigorous imprisonment under another section of the law, along with a 50,000 taka fine each, or an additional six months’ rigorous imprisonment in default.
Those sentenced to life imprisonment are Shah Md Mahbubur Rahman Rony, 25, son of Shah Jahangir Mia of Bagunipara in Habiganj Sadar; Tarekul Islam Tarek, 28, son of late Rafiqul Islam of Umednagar in Shantiganj, Sunamganj; and Arjun Lashkar, 26, son of late Amalendu Lashkar alias Kanu Lashkar of Atgram in Zakiganj.
The four acquitted accused are Rabiul Islam, 25, son of Delwar Hossain of Baranagdipur in Dirai; Mahfuzur Rahman Masum, 25, son of Salik Ahmed of Lama Dalaikandi in Kanaighat; Ainuddin alias Ainul, 26, son of late Sona Mia of Golapbag residential area in Sylhet city; and Misbaul Islam Rajon, 27, son of late Fayzul Islam of Nateshwar village in Beanibazar.
The fines collected from the convicts will be paid to the victim’s family, the prosecutor said.
The sentences under different sections will run concurrently, and the time the convicts have already spent in custody will be deducted from their sentences. The court ordered the release of the four acquitted accused unless they are wanted in any other cases.
The convicted and acquitted accused were all known to be activists of the banned Chhatra League.
Earlier, both the prosecution and defence completed their final arguments last Wednesday, following which the tribunal fixed Tuesday for delivering the verdict.
The case was transferred from the Sylhet Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal to the Speedy Trial Tribunal in May last year, after which witness testimony began.
A total of 25 witnesses, including the victim and her husband, the investigating officer, the magistrate who recorded the accused’s confessional statements, and a forensic doctor from Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, testified before the court.
The trial proceedings remained stalled for a long period amid allegations of political interference. After the political changeover on 5 August 2024, the case regained momentum following a suspension of nearly a year.
The incident took place on 25 September 2020, when a 24-year-old man from Joinpur in South Surma visited the MC College campus with his 19-year-old newlywed wife in a private car.
According to the prosecution, a group of men forcibly stopped the couple, held them hostage and took them along with the vehicle to the college dormitory. The attackers confined the husband and gang-raped the woman inside the car in front of the fifth-floor building of Block 7 of the dormitory.
The attackers also took away cash, a gold chain and earrings belonging to the woman before fleeing with the vehicle.
The victim’s husband later filed a case with Shahporan Police Station, naming six people and accusing three to four unidentified others.
The incident triggered widespread protests across the country and led the government to amend the law to introduce the death penalty for rape. Parliament passed the Women and Children Repression Prevention (Amendment) Bill 2020 on 17 November that year, introducing capital punishment for rape.
Police later arrested all eight accused. Following their arrests, all of them reportedly gave confessional statements before a court under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.