She was handcuffed, blotted with kerosene, and set on fire: Sixteen defendants were sentenced to death for the cruel death of a student in Bangladesh.
The case of 19-year-old Nusrat Jahan Rafi caused a shock in April: The young woman had accused the head of her Koran school of sexual harassment and reported it to the police. A few days later she was lured by two classmates on the roof of the school. There, the two would have them bring them to withdraw their ad, said investigator Banaj Kumar Majumder. When Rafi refused, five people showered kerosene and set fire to them.
According to investigators, one of the original 18 detainees had testified that the headmaster had instructed the attackers to put pressure on Rafi to drop her allegations. If she refuses, she should be killed.
80 percent of the young woman's skin burned. She died five days later in the hospital. The headmaster and at least two of the victim's classmates were among those convicted, prosecutor Hafez Ahammad said.
In the capital Dhaka, there were days of protests after the murder. In the majority Muslim country, victims of sexual violence seldom display their assailants. According to Human Rights Watch, victims of sexual harassment in Bangladesh often oppose it because they could be accused and humiliated in hospitals and police stations. Rafi's ad had also been dismissed by the police as "no big deal," according to video footage.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had assured the family after the murder of the young woman that all perpetrators would be held accountable. The lawsuit was one of the fastest ever in Bangladesh. Often such cases drag on for years.
Incident should look like a suicide
According to police, the perpetrators tied up the woman with a scarf. "The plan was to make the incident a suicide, but he failed when Rafi managed to run down the stairs after the fire blew the scarf and her hands and feet were free again," senior investigator Mohammed Iqbal said.
Before her death, Rafi had recorded a video in which she reiterated her allegations against the headmaster. "The teacher has touched me, I will fight against this crime until my last breath," she said in it.
The convicts announced that they would appeal. Rafi's brother Mahmudul Nasan Noman, on the other hand, was satisfied with the verdict and thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her efforts, which has accelerated the process.
