Gazipur teacher Anwar Hossain Khan gets life imprisonment for raping a six-year-old student in Gacha

A court has sentenced teacher Anwar Hossain Khan to life imprisonment for raping a six-year-old student in the Gacha area of Gazipur city. He was also fined Tk 1 lakh.

Judge Abu Bakar Siddik of the Gazipur Metropolitan Children Repression Prevention Tribunal delivered the verdict on Thursday (November 5). The court ordered that if the fine is not paid, the convict's immovable property will be sold and the money given to the child victim.

According to court sources, defence lawyers sought more time on the day of the verdict, but the court rejected the plea and delivered the judgment. The convict was not present in court at the time, and a warrant for his arrest to serve the sentence has been issued.

According to the case details, the incident took place on the morning of August 31, 2019. The six-year-old nursery student of Adarsha Shishu Kanan School in Ward 34 under Gacha police station went to school that day. At around 9:15am, after the other teachers had gone into their classrooms, assistant teacher Anwar Hossain Khan took the child to the school office room and raped her, the case states.

The first information report also says that before the incident, the school's English teacher Farida Begum called the child out of the classroom and took her to the office room. The child was later threatened and intimidated not to tell anyone about the incident.

At around 11am, the child returned home bleeding and crying and told her mother what had happened. The child was then given primary treatment at a local clinic.

After discussions with family members and the school authorities, the child's mother filed a written complaint at Gacha police station on September 5, 2019. In the case filed under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, Anwar Hossain Khan was made the main accused of rape and teacher Farida Begum was accused of aiding him.

After a long trial process, with testimony, evidence and hearings from both sides, the court handed down the life sentence and the Tk 1 lakh fine against Anwar Hossain Khan.

Special Public Prosecutor Selina Begum conducted the hearing for the state at the Metropolitan Children Repression Prevention Tribunal, assisted by lawyers Mohiuddin and Zakir Kader.

On the court's order, the warrant issued to arrest the absconding convict has been sent to the concerned police station.