A Dhaka tribunal has sentenced six men to imprisonment for life in a case involving the gang rape of two women in South Keraniganj in 2022.
Judge Munshi Md Mashiar Rahman of Dhaka’s নারী ও শিশু নির্যাতন দমন ট্রাইব্যুনাল-4 delivered the verdict on 4 August.
The convicted defendants are Rahul, Md Diamond, Afsar Uddin Anim, Parvez Haque Palash, Minhaj alias Minhaj Abedin, and Minhaj alias Babu alias Minhaj Babu.
Each defendant was also fined Tk100,000, state prosecutor Md Ershad Alam said.
Alam said the tribunal directed the Dhaka district magistrate or collector to recover the fines through the sale of the defendants’ movable or immovable property and provide the money to the survivors or their families.
Rahul was reported to be absconding, and the tribunal issued both a sentence warrant and an arrest warrant against him.
The other convicted defendants were sent to prison after the verdict.
Court case materials state that the two women and several friends had gone out to mark a friend’s birthday on 25 June 2022 and were seeking transport home in the Shubhadya area.
The case materials state that the group was intercepted, the women’s friends were assaulted and robbed, and the two women were taken to a field in an area known as Rataner Khamar.
Police later rescued the women after their friends informed South Keraniganj police, the case materials state.
One survivor’s father filed the case on 29 June 2022, and investigators later submitted charges against the six defendants.
The tribunal heard 12 witnesses before reaching its verdict.