The High Court has strongly criticised the judicial mindset of the trial court judge and the process through which the tribunal sentenced all 16 accused to death in the murder case of madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi, who was burnt to death in Feni’s Sonagazi.

In its 112-page full verdict, published on the Supreme Court website on Tuesday, the High Court described the lower tribunal’s decision to sentence all 16 accused to death as “mindless and irresponsible”, observing that “such a verdict cannot be expected in any civilised society.”

"The learned Judge of the Triubunal is found to be lacking in judicial sensetivity", the HC said.

The verdict, delivered by a High Court bench comprising Justice Bhishmadev Chakraborty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja, highlighted an extreme lack of judicial sensitivity on the part of Mamunur Rashid, then judge of the lower tribunal.

According to the full verdict, there was not even the minimum evidence of the offence against four of those sentenced to death — Mohammad Shamim, Ruhul Amin, Maksud Alam Councillor and Absar Uddin. Despite the lack of evidence, the tribunal sentenced them to death.

The High Court observed that the blanket imposition of death sentences resulted in innocent people spending more than seven years in condemned cells. It said the judge’s erroneous assessment caused the individuals concerned and their families irreparable devastation and severe physical and mental suffering.

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.

Following hearings on the death reference and appeals, the High Court on August 24, 2026, upheld the death sentences of two of the 16 convicts, commuted the sentences of four others to life imprisonment, and acquitted the remaining 10.

Of the 16 people sentenced to death by the tribunal, the High Court found sufficient grounds for the offences only against madrasa principal SM Siraj Ud Daula and student Shahadat Hossain Shamim.

The High Court also identified a lack of basic knowledge of the Penal Code and fundamental rules relating to sentencing on the part of the lower court judge.

It directed that the judge be kept away from criminal jurisdiction, or Sessions Jurisdiction, until he acquires adequate basic knowledge of criminal or sessions jurisdiction.

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.