3 jailed for 14 yrs in Bagerhat

A court here on Sunday sentenced three people to 14 years of imprisonment each for throwing acid on a young housewife in Fakirhat upazila of the district in 2010.

The court also fined the trio -- Mollah Masud Rana, 31, son of Abdus Salam Mollah, and Mostafa Usastha, 34, son of Jabbar Usastha of Lakhpur union and Hannan Sheikh, 34, son of Makbul Sheikh of Piljanga union -- Tk 50 thousand each, in default to suffer  rigorous imprisonment for three more years.

The judge of the court of Acid Crime Control Tribunal SM Solaiman also ordered the Bagerhat deputy commissioner to confiscate the assets of the three convicts who were not present at the court and sell those to give compensation to the housewife.

Three police officers were also reprimanded for negligence during investigation of the case.

According to the case statement, the three used to tease the housewife in Nawapara village under Piljanga union.

On 9 November, 2010, the three swooped on the house of the woman at night and tried to abduct her.

When the woman raised a huge and cry, the three threw acid on her.

The victim filed a case against several people, naming four of them, with the Fakirhat Police Station  on 11 November 2010.

 Investigation officer Akram Hossain prepared the charge sheet on 19 December, 2010 without showing any involvement of the accused. Later, the second investigation officer, Azit Kumar Mitra, filed the final charge sheet on 8 March 2011.