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Published : 17 May 2025, 01:46 AM
Months after a child was “raped and murdered” in a brutal Magura episode that took the nation by storm, the charge sheet against the prime accused, Hitu Sheikh, detailed the “horror” of the act as women leaders related the assault to a “twisted and demonic mentality”.
In a reaction to the chargesheet's account of Hitu’s “use of a blade to sexually assault” the child, a woman activist said: “Only a twisted, demonic beast could do this. An innocent child has been unimaginably brutalised.”
The court set Saturday for the verdict in the rape and murder case of the 8-year-old child.
The trial, which has drawn widespread outrage across the country, is under way. The verdict is set to be delivered two months and 11 days after the incident.
On Mar 6, the child from Magura’s Sreepur Upazila was allegedly raped while on a visit to her sister's house.
A week later, she died at Dhaka’s Combined Military Hospital (CMH).
On Apr 13, the investigating officer, Inspector Md Alauddin of Magura Sadar Police Station, submitted a charge sheet to the Magura Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court.
The four accused in the case are: the father-in-law of the victim’s sister, Hitu Sheikh; his sons Sojib Sheikh and Ratul Sheikh; and his wife, Zaheda Begum. They are currently behind bars.
Hitu Sheikh gave a confessional statement to the court under Section 164. However, he drew the attention of journalists several times during the testimony in the case and said he was not involved in the incident.
THE INCIDENT
According to the chargesheet, the child went to Sreepur upazila to the house of Hitu Sheikh in Nijnanduali village in Magura suburb with her brother-in-law, Sojib, alias Ismail on Mar 1.
After spending five days there, on the night of Mar 5, the child went to bed with his sister and brother-in-law. The following morning, as others got engaged with their daily work, Hitu, the child, her sister, and Ratul remained at home, it added.
It said the child had her breakfast and went to sleep again. Hitu then woke up from sleep and found her sister busy on the phone and entered the room to “fulfil his sexual desire”. But when he dragged her off the bed, she began screaming and Hitu strangled her with a scarf as she fell unconscious.
He then proceeded with the act, it said.
The charge sheet added that at one stage, Hitu brought an old blade from his room and cut her and left it under the mattress.
Charges have been filed against Hitu under Section 9 of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Act.
State lawyer Monirul Islam Mukul said, “The state has been able to prove that Hitu Sheikh raped the child through the statement of the main accused under Section 164, DNA test report, forensic report, medical report, and witness testimony.
“The child died as a result of the rape. We are hopeful that the court will do justice, and he will be given the maximum punishment.”
