HC starts appeal hearing

The High Court (HC) yesterday started hearing on the death reference and appeals in the sensational Rakib murder case in Khulna.

The bench of Justice Jahangir Hossain and Justice Md Jahangir Hossain fixed today for resuming the hearing.

On August 3, 2015, Rakib's former employer Omar Sharif and his accomplice and uncle Mintu Khan stripped the boy naked, inserted a high-pressure air pump nozzle into his rectum and filled the abdomen with air, as a punishment for changing workplace. Rakib's intestines tore apart and lungs burst as air filled the abdomen, which left him dead. The killing of the 13-year-old sparked outrage all over the country then.

On November 8, 2015, Khulna Metropolitan Magistrate Court handed down death penalty to Sharif and Mintu to death for killing Rakib.

The convicted accused then filed two separate appeals with the HC challenging their conviction and sentence handed down by the trial court.