A tribunal in Khulna on Tuesday sentenced six men to death for raping a teenage girl in Sonadanga upazila in 2019. The death-row convicts are Morshedul Islam Shanto alias Shanto Biswas, Sheikh Shahadat Hossain, Md Rabbi Hasan Parash, Md Mahmud Hasan Akash, Kazi Ariful Islam Pritam and Md Mim Hossain. Among them, Shanto, Shahadat and Pritam were tried in absentia. Khulna Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-3 Judge Abdus Salam Khan delivered the judgment. Read more: Unspeakable: Parents tied up before daughter gang-raped by vandals in Subarnachar The court fined the convicts Tk 20,000 each. The court also sentenced four adolescents to eight years imprisonment each. One of them was sentenced to three more years more jail under the Anti-Pornography Act. According to the case, Shanto raped the sixth grader girl after taking her to a rented house of another convict on June 29 in 2019. The others convicts videoed the crime and raped the girl in terms. Read more: Sunamganj: 5 get life in prison in attempted rape, rape cases On the following day, a case was filed against nine people at Sonadanga police station. On November 13 of the same year, the investigation officer of the case and Sonadanga police station officer-in-charge (OC) Momtazul Hoque submitted a chargesheet against 10 convicts.

Police rescued a 16-year-old Indian girl from Faridpur just before she married her 21-year-old Bangladeshi lover. The girl was identified as Puja Bishwas, daughter of Sunil Dash from Nadia district in India’s West Bengal, said Suman Kar, Assistant Superintendent of Faridpur police on Saturday. Her Bangladeshi boyfriend is Tonmoy Rajbanshi, 21, from Gunbaha village in Boalmari municipality in Faridpur - also detained by police. Also read: Dinajpur youth commits suicide in front of lover On information, the girl was rescued on Friday around 11 pm from Poail village where the arrangements to officiate their wedding were made, said ASP Suman Kar. Puja and Tonmoy were involved in a romantic affair through Facebook. On Friday 4pm Puja came to Boalmari and from there Tonmoy took her to his brother-in-law’s house in Poail village. “The girl had no passport or visa with her and she was underage for marriage,” said Md Abdul Wahab, Officer-in-Charge of Boalmari police station. Tonmoy was held for alluring the girl to come to Bangladesh and has been presented to court under section 54 of CrpC (Code of Criminal Procedure) on Saturday, said the OC. Meanwhile, the court sent Puja to a juvenile correction centre under the Social Service Department, said OC Abdul Wahab. Also read: 4 get life in jail for selling Khulna woman to Indian brothel The matter is under investigation, he said

A man has allegedly shaved the head of a 12-year-old boy for what he said keeping stylist hair at Amirabad in Nalchiti upazila of Jhalakathi district. The incident took place on Monday at Amirabad Bazar in the upazila. Faruk Hawladar, father of the boy lodged a complaint with Nalchiti Police in this connection, said officer-in-charge of Nalchiti Police Station, Ataur Rahman. According to the complaint, the boy went to a barbershop to cut hair. After seeing his haircut Haidar Hawladar, uncle of the local chairman forcefully shaved boy’s head as punishment. READ: 5 students pay price for protest against stalking; get heads shaved Enraged by the boy’s protest Haidar beat the boy before allowing him to go home. Faruk demanded that the tormentor of his boy be punished. He said Haider could have raised the matter with him instead of humiliating the boy.  Contacted, Haidar admitted that he had the boy’s head shaved as his haircut was objectionable and this could spoil other teenagers. Chairman of Magra Union, Enamul Haque, said if the incident is found to be true the offender will be punished.   The officer-in-charge of the local police station said they got a complaint in this regard. Legal action will be taken if any evidence is found.

A student of class nine took over Panchagarh Upazila Nirbahi Officer’s office for an hour as a symbol of empowerment of girl child on National Girl Child Day. Sadia Binte Awlad Ahona is a student of Panchagarh Government Girls’ High School and member of district’s Child Parliament who took over the responsibility from Panchagarh UNO Arif Hossain. The initiative was taken by Non-Government Organization Plan International and National Children Task Force (NCTF) to encourage empowerment of women, its implementation and spreading awareness on rights of women and children. READ: BUET team becomes Asia West Champion in Moscow programming contest The takeover is a part of the global #GirlsTakeover, a signature activity of Plan International. For one hour the whole sadar upazila administration officers and staffs came under supervision of the ninth grader as she held discussion on child marriage, violence against women and proposed recommendations to make the 10 unions, one municipality woman friendly. UNO Arif Hossain said he will take Sadia’s recommendations in consideration to turn the upazila woman friendly and stop violence against women. READ: Soborno Isaac Bari: Bangladeshi Descent Child Prodigy Becomes World’s Youngest Professor Emphasizing on girl child Sadia said “Women’s ability has been proven in all sectors and they can go far if equity is served”.