A court here yesterday sentenced 11 people to life-term imprisonment for violating schoolgirl Purnima Rani Shil in2001.

District Women and Children Repression Prevention TYibunal judge Osman Haidar pronounced the verdict in the afternoon.

The court also fined Tk 1 lakh each for compensation to the victim's family.

Six accused were present at the court during the verdict while the other five remained absconding since filing of the case.

The convicts who were present are Abdul Jalil, Altaf Hossain (1), Hossain Ali, Abdur Rauf, Yeasin Ali and Liton Sheikh, all hailing from East Delua village.

According to the prosecution, the convicts took Purnima Rani Shil, a schoolgirl of the same village, forcibly to a lonely place and gangraped heronOctober8,2001.

The criminals also beat up the family members of Purnima as they protested

the incident.

Later, Anil Chandra Shil, father of the victim, filed a case accusing 17 people with Ullahpara police station in this connection.

In Kurigram, police on Monday arrested Hafizul Islam Hapu, 24, son of Abdul Wahed of Kuti Payaradanga village under Nageswari

municipality on charge of raping a teen-age girl.

Police said, Hazera Begum, 19, daughter of Abdus Sattar was living in his house at Kuti Payaradanga for the last few months due to a quarrel with her in-laws at Pateswari.

One Sunday while she was going to purchase kero-

sene oil from a shop about 300 metres far from her father's house, Hapu took her to a lonely place by force and raped her.

On Monday night, she along with her mother came to Nageswari police station and filed a case against Hapu and police arrested him the same night.