4 get death in Rupa murder case

A court in Tangail sentenced four transport workers to death in a case filed over the murder of law student Zakia Sultana Rupa after gang-rape in a running bus on August 25 last year.

The supervisor of the bus was also given seven years imprisonment and fined Tk 1 lakh.

Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Abul Hossain passed the order on Monday.

The convicts are bus supervisor Safar Ali, 55, driver Habibur, 45, helper Shamim, 26, Akram, 35 and Jahangir, 19.

Rupa was gang-raped aboard a moving bus of ‘Chhoa Paribahan’ and murdered when travelling to Mymensingh from Bogra on August 25 last year. Her body was dumped in Modhupur upazila of the district.

Police filed a murder case at Modhupur station accusing five people on August 26 and arrested bus driver Habibur, supervisor Safar Ali, and assistants Shamim, Akram and Jahangir two days later.

All five men have confessed to a court about their involvement in the crime.

Police pressed charges against them on October 25 last year. The Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal of Tangail indicted them on November 29.

Rupa, who completed her Masters from Bogra Azizul Haque College, was studying law at Dhaka Ideal Law College.