A Dhaka tribunal on Monday sentenced Tithy Sarker, a suspended student of Jagannath University (JnU), to five years in prison in a case filed under the Digital Security Act for making derogatory remarks about religion on Facebook.
However, the court has granted her probation for one year, subject to eight conditions, the tribunal's stenographer Mamun Sikder told the media.
Judge AM Julfiker Hayet of the Cyber Tribunal of Dhaka delivered the verdict in the presence of Tithy at the courtroom.
During the probation period, Tithy will be allowed to stay at her home, but her activities will be monitored by a probation officer.
Mamun further said that if Tithy complies with the conditions and receives a satisfactory report from the probation officer, the court will reconsider her penalty.
Throughout the trial, six prosecution witnesses testified in the case.
The case was filed on October 23, 2020, when screenshots of Tithy's Facebook posts and comments, offending religious sentiments, circulated on social media. At that time, Tithy filed a general diary with Pallabi Police Station, claiming that her Facebook account was hacked.
Meanwhile, protests erupted at JnU, demanding her punishment. Tithy was suspended from her position as the office secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra Odhikar Parishad's JnU unit and from the university.
Tithy went "missing" on October 25, 2020. Her family told journalists that she went missing in the morning that day after leaving her Pallabi home for the local police station.
Criminal Investigation Department officials later revealed that Tithy had allegedly staged her abduction and eloped with her boyfriend, Shiplu Mallik, whom she married in Bagerhat. Subsequently, both were arrested in connection with the case under the Digital Security Act.
While the investigation progressed, Tithy's husband, Shiplu Mallik, was discharged from the charges on November 4, 2021, based on scrutiny of the case documents and other relevant evidence.
