A Dhaka court on Monday framed charges against prime accused Sohel Rana and his wife Swapna Akter in the case filed over the rape and murder of eight-year-old Ramisa Akter in the capital's Pallabi area.
Judge of the Dhaka Metropolitan Children Violence Suppression Tribunal Masrur Salekin passed the order, fixing Tuesday for starting the deposition of witnesses in the case, said plaintiff’s lawyer Advocate Azizur Rahman Dulu.
The two accused were produced before the court around 11:00am.
Meanwhile, Sohel Rana claimed during hearing that his wife Swapna Akter is completely innocent.
Besides, while being escorted out of the courtroom, he claimed that one Dollar committed the rape and murder. “I did not commit the rape; I only dismembered the body. A man named Dollar committed the rape. I have committed a sin, so punish me for that sin,” he said, shouting at journalists.
Sohel Rana also claimed that Dollar had promised to pay him Tk 2 lakh if he could bring the girl to him.
When journalists asked him about the identity of Dollar, he described him as a wealthy man from a house in the Pallabi area.
The accused also alleged that everything had been “automatically” written without conducting his DNA test.
Earlier, accused Sohel was brought from Dhaka Central Jail at Keraniganj and his wife Swapna Akter from Kashimpur Jail around 7:45am under tight security.
They were kept in the custody cell of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court.
On May 24, the investigating officer of the case – Sub-Inspector Ohiduzzaman of Pallabi Police Station – submitted the charge sheet against Sohel Rana and his wife Swapna Akter to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court in Dhaka.
Ramisa Akter, daughter of Abdul Hannan Molla, was raped and murdered by Sohel Rana, tenant of a neighbouring flat, on May 19.
According to the case details, accused Sohel lured her into his room and later killed her after rape.
Ramisa’s decapitated body was found beneath the bed while her severed head was found inside a bucket in the bathroom.
While Swapna was detained from the scene, Sohel Rana managed to escape by cutting through a window grille.
He was tracked down and arrested by police later in Fatullah of Narayanganj.