HC orders completion of Magura child rape trial in six months

An HC bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury passed the suo motu order.

Two lawyers also submitted a writ in this regard drawing the top court’s attention.

The Women and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal concerned was directed to implement this order (completion of trial) with the timeframe, reports UNB.

The HC also ordered the completion of investigation into the case within 30 days, and submit a report in this regard accordingly.    

The court instructed to remove all photos of the victim from all types of media, including social media platforms, within 24 hours.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), police and Cyber Crime Unit were instructed to implement the order immediately.

Besides, the court ordered the authorities to take action against those print and social media published photo and identity of the victim within three hours as the section 14 of the Women and Children Repression and Prevention Act.

The social welfare official of Magura district was ordered to ensure security of the victim and her sister within 24 hours.

The court in its observation said publishing the identity of the victim, and sharing photos are punishable offences and people will have to know it.  

The incident occurred when the victim visited her sister’s in-laws’ house at Nijnanduali village in Magura’s Sadar upazila.

She went to bed with her sister at night, but in the dead of night, her sister found her missing and began searching for her.

After a frantic search, the girl was found unconscious a few yards away from the house.

She was initially admitted to Magura General Hospital and later transferred to Faridpur Medical College Hospital as her condition deteriorated. On Thursday, she was moved to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) before being shifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Dhaka.

Meanwhile, university students, including that of Dhaka University, staged demonstrations early Sunday on their respective campuses, demanding the death penalty of the accused.

Earlier in the day, Home Affairs Adviser Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury visited the girl at the CMH and said the rapists will not be spared as the state is determined to ensure justice.