A court in Khulna on Friday sentenced a man in absentia to life in jail for raping a minor domestic help on the pretext of marriage and killing her in 2010.

Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-3 Judge Mahmuda Khatun handed down the punishment to Sheikh Khurshid Alam alias Rubel after holding him guilty of the crimes. The judge also imposed a fine of Tk 80,000 on the convict.

According to the prosecution, the minor girl started working as a domestic help in the house of Abdul Kuddus in the Arambagh area of Sonadanga upazila.

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Abdul’s son Rubel established sexual intimacy with the minor promising to marry her later. When the girl got pregnant, Rubel made her abort the baby with help of his sister-in-law, the court was told. 

Following the abortion, the girl started putting pressure on Rubel to marry her. To get rid of her, Rubel set her on fire on June 16, 2010, following an argument and then left the house.

Hearing her screams, neighbours rushed her to Khulna Medical College and Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries during treatment.

However, the girl managed to give a dying declaration that was used by the police to implicate Rubel in the case, Tipu Lal Dash, sub-inspector at Sonadanga police station, told UNB.

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On October 4, 2010, the police submitted a chargesheet in the court against four people in the case, including Rubel.

The court, however, acquitted the other three accused in the case for lack of evidence.