The High Court yesterday granted bail to a female prisoner, Sumi Akter Reshma, who has been languishing in jail for more than seven years in a murder case.

It ordered the lower courts concerned to finish the trial proceedings of the killing cases against two other female prisoners -Razia Sultana and Shanaj Begum - in three months.

If the trial courts cannot finish their trial proceedings, the courts will consider their bail upon submission of bail petitions, the HCsaid.

The HC also rejected the rule issuing bail for another female prisoner - Rani alias Nupur - in a murder case against her, as the trial court is now recording statements from witnesses of the case.

Sumi from Narayanganj, Razia from Cazipur and Rani from Mymensingh have been in the jail since 2009 in three separate murder cases, and Shanaj from

Narayanganj has been suffering in jail since 2008 in a killing case.

Yesterday, the HC bench of Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice Krishna Debnath passed the orders after examining the records of the cases against them and holding hearing on the rule issued earlier.

Another HC bench on November 30 last year issued a rule upon the government to explain why the four under-trial female prisoners at the Kashimpur jail in Gazipur should not be granted bail in the cases filed against them.