A Magura court has placed the prime accused in 8-year old child rape case, Hitu Sheikh, on a 7-day remand, while his wife Zayeda Khatun and their two sons, Sajib Sheikh and Ratul Sheikh, have been placed on 5-day remands each.
Due to security concerns, police could not present the accused in court on Sunday as students and locals staged a protest outside the Magura court, demanding the death penalty for the perpetrators within 24 hours.
This led to a midnight remand hearing, where Chief Judicial Magistrate Abdul Matin passed the order.
According to the case statement, 50-year-old Hitu Sheikh, father-in-law of the victim’s elder sister, raped the child while the other accused assisted him.
The case also revealed that Hitu Sheikh had been making inappropriate advances toward his elder daughter-in-law since her marriage to Sajib four months ago, but no action had been taken by the family.
The incident occurred when the victim visited her sister’s in-laws' home in Magura’s Sadar upazila. She went to bed with her sister, but in the middle of the night, her sister found her missing. After a frantic search, she was discovered unconscious a few yards away from the house.
The child was initially admitted to Magura General Hospital before being transferred to Faridpur Medical College Hospital as her condition worsened. She was later moved to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and then to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka for further treatment.
Meanwhile, protests erupted across the country, with university students—including those from Dhaka University—staging demonstrations demanding capital punishment for the accused.
Students also blocked the Dhaka-Khulna highway as part of their protests.
Home Affairs Adviser Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury visited the victim at CMH on Sunday and assured that the rapists would not be spared, emphasizing the state’s commitment to ensuring justice.
