Rape, murder of child: Four in Sylhet get life sentence after 15 years

A court in Sylhet has sentenced four people to life imprisonment and fined them Tk1 lakh each for the rape and murder of a 12-year-old child in Sylhet, 15 years after the incident.

Judge Miazi Shahidul Alam Chowdhury of Sylhet Woman and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal (District and Sessions Judge) passed the verdict on Tuesday (30 January).

The convicts are Anwar Hossain, Md Khokon, Faisal Mia and Md Anai. Among them, Anwar Hossain is absconding. The court announced the verdict in the presence of the rest.

Advocate Ishtiaq Ahmad Chowdhury, assistant public prosecutor of the tribunal, said the four convicts raped and murdered the victim at a bamboo plantation near her house in Bateshwar area of Sylhet Sadar upazila in 2009. 

Quoting the family of the child, he said, "Convict Faisal had proposed marriage to the victim's elder sister, which the family refused. Enraged by this, Faisal along with his friends raped and killed the child."