The High Court on Monday upheld the death sentences of two of the 16 convicts in the murder case of Feni madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi, commuted the sentences of four others to life imprisonment and acquitted the remaining 10. 

The death sentences upheld are those of suspended principal of Sonagazi Islamia Fazil (Degree) Madrasa Siraj Ud Daula and Shahadat Hossain Shamim. 

A HC bench comprising Justice Bhishmadev Chakraborty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja delivered the verdict. 

The four convicts whose death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment are Nur Uddin, Javed Hossain alias Sakhawat Hossain, Saifur Rahman Mohammad Zubayer and Umme Sultana alias Popy.

The 10 acquitted are Kamrun Nahar Moni, Hafez Abdul Quader, Mahi Uddin Shakil, Imran Hossain alias Mamun, Abdur Rahim Sharif, Mohammad Shamim, Iftekhar Uddin Rana, Ruhul Amin, then president of Sonagazi upazila Awami League and former vice-president of the madrasa, Afsar Uddin, and Maksud Alam, the then councillor and former general secretary of Sonagazi municipal Awami League. 

Shirin Akter, mother of Nusrat Jahan Rafi, expressed satisfaction with the HC verdict.

“I am satisfied with the verdict, Alhamdulillah,” she told reporters at her home in the Char Chandia area of Sonagazi upazila in Feni following the verdict.

Shirin said some people had tried to portray Nusrat’s death as a suicide after the incident. “But today’s verdict has once again proved that it was a murder,” she said.

She alleged that they had been threatened with arson attacks on their home and harm to family members, and sought security for her family from the authorities concerned, including Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

Sub-Inspector Palash Chandra Roy of Feni Model Police Station, who is part of the security detail, said additional security measures had been taken around the family’s home to prevent any untoward incident following the verdict.

After the verdict, Ruhul said the HC had made a significant observation about the trial court’s judgment, describing its decision to sentence all 16 accused to death as a “mindless sentence”. 

He said the HC found that trial judge Mamunur Rashid had failed to exercise proper judicial judgment in assessing the individual roles and involvement of the accused before handing down the sentences.

The Attorney General said the HC had directed the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to take steps to remove Mamunur Rashid immediately from hearing criminal cases and imposing sentences in such cases. 

The HC concluded hearings on the death references, appeals and jail appeals filed by the convicts on August 20. The state began the hearing by presenting the paper book containing the case records.

Advocates SM Shahjahan, Barrister Masud Hossain Dolon and Advocate Mohammad Shishir Manir represented the accused, while Attorney General Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal and Deputy Attorney General Syed Ejaz Kabir represented the state. 

The Chief Justice constituted the bench on June 10 to hear death references, appeals and miscellaneous matters under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act on a priority basis. The two-member bench began proceedings on June 14.

According to case documents, on March 27, 2019, Siraj called Nusrat to his room and sexually harassed her. He was arrested after a case was filed over the incident.

On April 6, after Nusrat refused to withdraw the case, she was allegedly taken to the madrasa rooftop, where her hands and feet were tied, kerosene was poured over her body and she was set on fire.

Nusrat died on April 10, 2019, while undergoing treatment at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital. 

In 2019, Judge Mamunur Rashid of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Special Tribunal in Feni sentenced all 16 accused to death in the case.