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Today, the verdict will be announced in the high-profile case filed over the rape and murder of eight-year-old child Ramisa Akter in Pallabi, Mirpur, Dhaka. Security measures have been heightened in the Dhaka Metropolitan Court premises in anticipation of the verdict.
The verdict in this case is expected to be delivered after 10 AM on Sunday (June 7) at the court of Judge Masrur Saleheen of the Dhaka Metropolitan Child Violence Suppression Tribunal.
The two accused in the case are Ramisa’s tenant neighbors, Sohel Rana and his wife Swapna Akter.
The trial of the case was completed in just four working days. After the presentation of arguments by both the prosecution and the defense, the court set today for the verdict on June 4.
Earlier, on June 1, charges were framed against Sohel and his wife Swapna, and an order was issued to commence the trial. Witness testimony began on June 2. On that day, the court concluded this phase after hearing 16 out of 18 witnesses. Subsequently, on June 3, the self-defense hearing took place, where the accused pleaded not guilty. In total, the formal trial of this case was completed in just four working days.
According to the case statement (FIR), Ramisa was a second-grade student at Popular Model High School. On May 19, around 9:30 AM, after she left her house, Swapna cunningly took her inside her room. Around 10:30 AM on the same day, Ramisa’s mother started looking for her to go to school. At one point, she found the child’s shoes in front of the accused’s room. After calling out without any response, Ramisa’s parents and other flat residents broke down the door and entered, discovering Ramisa’s headless body on the floor of the accused’s bedroom and her head inside a large bucket within the room.
Later, upon receiving a call via the national emergency service 999, police arrived at the scene and took Swapna into custody. With the aid of information technology, police successfully arrested Sohel Rana from in front of Fatullah Police Station in Narayanganj district. The victim’s father, Abdul Hannan Molla, filed a case at Pallabi Police Station on May 20 regarding this incident.