Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed on Thursday said exemplary punishment would be ensured in the shortest possible time in the brutal rape and murder case of eight-year-old Ramisa Akter in Dhaka’s Pallabi area.

He said police will investigate the murder and submit the charge sheet as quickly as possible, the minister said at a press conference on recent issues at the conference room of the Home Ministry at Secretariat.

“The remaining legal process is the responsibility of the Law Ministry. We hope exemplary punishment will be ensured as soon as possible,” he said.

He also said police are arresting many criminals who had long remained beyond the reach of law enforcement agencies.

Earlier in the day, Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman directed the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner to submit the probe report within one week over the murder.

The minister said steps will be taken to complete the trial proceedings of the murder case in the shortest possible time.

“The government will do everything possible to ensure the speedy completion of the trial over the murder of the child,” he added.

Ramisa, a Class-II student, was slaughtered by a tenant of their next-door flat at Pallabi in the capital on Tuesday.

The suspect – Sohel Rana – reportedly lured her into his room when Ramisa left her flat in the morning. Later, he raped the girl and slaughtered her.

The girl’s decapitated body was found beneath the bed while her severed head inside a bucket in the bathroom.

Locals detained suspect’s wife Swapna Akter, though Sohel managed to escape by cutting through a window grille.

He was later arrested in Fatullah of Narayanganj in the evening of the same day.

On Wednesday, Sohel gave a statement before a Dhaka court confessing to his guilt.