The prime suspect in the brutal murder of an eight-year-old schoolgirl in Dhaka’s Pallabi area after rape confessed before a court on Wednesday to his involvement in the incident.

Sohel Rana, 32, made a confessional statement before Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Aminul Islam Junaid after investigating officer (IO) of the case filed over the murder – Sub-Inspector Wahiduzzaman of Pallabi Police Station – produced him before the court.

The court later ordered him to be sent to jail.

Youth stabbed dead in Dhaka’s Gendaria

Sohel’s wife Swapna Akter was also sent to prison by Metropolitan Magistrate Ashraful Haq following a police plea.

According to the IO, Sohel gave details of how he raped and killed the child.

The victim, Ramisa Akter, daughter of Abdul Hannan Molla, was a second-grade student of Popular Model High School.

She lived with her family in Section-11, Block-B of Pallabi, while Sohel and his wife lived in a neighbouring flat as subtenants.

According to the case details, the suspect reportedly lured her into his room when Ramisa left her flat around 9:30am on Tuesday.

The crime came to light around 10:30am when Ramisa's mother went looking for her as it was time for school. She reportedly noticed her daughter’s sandals left outside the suspect's door.

After receiving no response to repeated knocking, the mother, with the help of other building residents, broke open the door.

Inside, they discovered Ramisa’s decapitated body beneath the bed while her severed head was found hidden inside a bucket in the bathroom. The suspect’s wife Swapna was in the flat.

While Swapna was detained from the scene by neighbours and subsequently handed over to police, Sohel managed to escape by cutting through a window grille.

He was tracked down and arrested by police later Tuesday evening in Fatullah in Narayanganj.