Rokeya Khatun, mother of Buet student Abrar Fahad, demanded execution of the High Court verdict soon and arrest of the fugitive convicts immediately.
Rokeya Khatun came up with her remarks while talking to reporters at PTI road in Kushtia district town after the pronouncement of the judgment.
Rokeya, Abrar’s grandfather Abdul Gafur Biswas, her maternal aunts Nilu and Momtaz Begum expressed satisfaction over the HC verdict.
"I am happy with the verdict of the High Court today. Not only us, but people all over the country are happy. The court upheld the verdict announced in 2022. When the verdict was first announced the people of the country expressed satisfaction. I express my gratitude to the current government, judiciary, students, journalists and the country’s people. Six years after his death, no one has forgotten my son.” she said.
All educational institutions of the country should be free from ragging so that all educational institutions become safe, she said.
The High Court on Sunday upheld the trial court’s verdict confirming the death penalty for 20 students of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) and life imprisonment for five others in the sensational Abrar Fahad murder case.
A High Court bench comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain delivered the verdict in a jam-packed courtroom.
Of the total 25 accused in the case, five are on the run.
On December 8, 2021, a Dhaka court sentenced 20 Buet students to death and handed life imprisonment to five others for their involvement in the murder.
HC upholds death sentences for 20 Buet students in Abrar Fahad murder case
Abrar Fahad, a second-year student of Buet’s Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) department, was beaten to death on October 6, 2019, allegedly by activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) at Sher-e-Bangla Hall.
The attack was reportedly triggered by a Facebook post Abrar had made about water-sharing issues between Bangladesh and India. His body was later found on the dormitory’s staircase.
The following day, Abrar’s father Barkat Ullah, filed a murder case at Chawkbazar Police Station. The incident sparked nationwide outrage, leading to widespread protests.