The High Court has ordered to take action against the officer who acquitted a BGB member in a case filed over the rape of a teenager in Nilphamari.
The Inspector General of Police has been instructed to take departmental action against Sahidur Rahman, the police investigation officer who gave the report on the BGB member in this case.
The High Court has also canceled the order to exempt BGB member Md Aktaruzzaman from the rape allegation.
An HC bench of Justice Jahangir Hosen Selim and Justice Md Bashir Ullah passed the order on Monday after hearing an appeal petition filed by the rape victim.
Besides, the Superintendent of the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) has been directed to investigate the case and submit a report to the Nilphamari Women and Child Abuse Prevention Tribunal within 60 working days.
The court directed the authorities of the National Institute of Health and Mental Hospital to provide psychiatric treatment to the rape victim.
Advocate Muhammad Shishir Monir and Supreme Court Legal Aid panel lawyer Badrun Nahar appeared for the girl while Deputy Attorney General Sarwar Hossain Bappi represented the state.
Earlier on 15 June, an exceptional incident took place in the Supreme Court, when a 15-year-old girl, along with her mother, walked into the court and demanded justice.
The girl said, “Your honour, I am 15 years old. The woman with me is my mother. A BGB member raped me but he was acquitted by a Nilphamari court. We are poor. We don’t have money. We want justice from you.”
The court then asked if there were any lawyers present from the Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee who could take up the case. Lawyer Badrun Nahar stood up and introduced herself.
The court then ordered that the matter be dealt with urgently.
On 20 November, 2020, a case was filed over the rape of a th-grader in Nilphamari’s Syedpur. A BGB member, also a neighbour, was named as the accused in the case.
Following the trial, the Nilphamari Women and Children Prevention Tribunal acquitted the accused on May 17, 2022.
Later on June 29, the High Court stayed the verdict of the trial court for six months which acquitted the accused.
The court also ordered the acquitted BGB member, Akhtaruzzaman, to surrender before it in four weeks.
Source: United News of Bangladesh