A tribunal in Noakhali on Monday sentenced two people to life imprisonment in a case over the rape of a housewife at Joykrishnapur village in Begumganj upazila of Noakhali district in September last year. The horrific incident of sexual violence after around 10 days of another rape incident at Sylhet’s MC College sparked huge outcry across the country. The lifers are Delwar Hossain alias Delu, leader of ‘Delwar Bahini’ and his associate Mohammad Ali alias Abul Kalam, residents of Eklashpur union of the upazila. Read: Noakhali Housewife Molestation: Probe finds involvement of victim’s husband Noakhali Women and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal-1 Judge Joynal Abedin handed down the verdict in the presence of the convicts  at 11am. The convicts were fined Tk 50,000 each, in default,  to suffer three months more rigorous imprisonment. Advocate Mamunur Rashid Lablu ‍stood for the state while advocate Mollah Habibur Rasul Mamun represented the plaintiff and advocate Jasim Uddin Badal for the accused. According to court sources, the court had earlier framed charges against the accused on February 17. Later on August 18, the testimony of the plaintiff was recorded in the presence of the accused. Read: Noakhali housewife molestation: Rape case filed against Delwar On October 6 in 2020,  the victim filed the case against Delwar and Kalam at Begumganj Model Police Station under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. The case was later handed over to the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI). The PBI submitted a chargesheet to the court on December 15, 2020. Police said Delwar violated the victim several times at gun point one year ago. According to the case statement, the victim was molested by some local miscreants of ‘Delwar Bahini’ at Ward No. 9 of Eklashpur Union on September 2 in 2020. The incident came to light after a video of the barbaric incident went viral on the internet. Read: Noakhali housewife molestation: Two more accused held The miscreants tortured the housewife after undressing her and captured it on phone. The video sent a shock wave throughout the country, triggering protests everywhere. The victim filed two cases accusing nine people 33 days after the incident. One of the cases was filed under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act and another under the Pornography Control Act.

Protest against the recent rapes and violence against women rolled into the eighth day in Dhaka.

As the call for justice in the Begumganj housewife rape case gains momentum in the country, celebrities have united to get the preparators their due.

Protests against the growing incidents of rape, sexual harassment and violence against women continued for the fifth consecutive day on Friday at Shahbagh in the capital.

A rape case was filed against Delwar Hossain who has been arrested for molesting a housewife in Begumganj upazila of Noakhali.

Detectives arrested two more suspects from Noakhali’s Begumganj upazila early Wednesday in connection with the torture of a housewife. The arrestees were identified as Shohagh, son of Pora Munshi and Nur Hossain, son of Soleman of Ekhl

The Noakhali molestation victim was previously raped several times at gun-point by the accused Delwar Hossain, said Al Mahmud Faizul Kabir, the director of investigation from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) quoting the victim on Tuesday. 

A Noakhali court on Tuesday placed main accused Badal Mia on a seven-day remand in a case filed over the torture of a housewife in Begumganj upazila of the district.

Nari O Shishu Odhikar Forum, a platform of BNP, on Tuesday announced a three-day programme in protest against violence against women and children, including inhuman repression of a woman in Noakhali’s Begumganj and a gang-rape of a woman at MC College in Sylhet. 

As the recent spate of rape and sexual harassment of women rocked the country, experts called for ensuring exemplary punishment of the culprits and their abettors through prompt trials since 97 percent perpetrators now get off the hook in many ways.