DHAKA — All 16 accused including sacked madrasa principal Siraj Ud Doula and Awami League leader Ruhul Amin were awarded death penalty for killing Feni madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi.

The Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal in Feni fined all the accused Tk1 lakh each, our Feni and Brahmanbaria correspondents report from the spot.

Before the verdict was delivered, the 16 accused were brought to the court premises from Feni Central Jail on a prison van.

The convicts, except for former madrasa principal Siraj, were all seen screaming and shouting and created further chaos from inside the van as they were being driven away from the court premises.

To ensure security of Nusrat’s family members, police were deployed in and around their home since yesterday.

How was Nusrat killed?

Nusrat, an Alim examinee of Sonagazi Senior Fazil Madrasa, was sexually harassed by madrasa principal (now sacked) Siraj Ud Doula on March 27. After the incident, her mother filed a case against Siraj, who was later arrested and sent to jail.

Since the arrest, the principal’s associates were threatening Nusrat’s family to withdraw the case. But the family did not do so.

On April 6, Nusrat was set on fire when she went to the madrasa to sit for an exam in the madrasa building.

Around 80 percent of her body was burnt. After fighting for her life for five days, Nusrat died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on April 10, which triggered a huge public outcry across the country.

On May 29, the Police Bureau of Investigation pressed charges against 16 accused.

Of them, 12 gave confessional statements before the court, according to the prosecution.

Trial of the case began on June 27. The court recorded statements of 87 witnesses. On September 30, the tribunal fixed on Thursday (today) for delivering the judgement in the case, he added. —THE DAILY STAR/ANN