OUR CORRESPONDENT, Bandarban

A Bandarban court yesterday sentenced four men to life imprisonment for raping a teenage girl in 2021.

The convicted Md Rashed, 23, Md Kayser, 22, Omar Faruq, 18, and Md Hanif, 24, have each been fined Tk 1 lakh, in default of which they will have to serve an additional six months in jail.

Public Prosecutor (PP) Mohammad Ismail said Md Kayser, who was in police custody, has been sent to jail, while the other three convicts are absconding. “Action will be taken to apprehend them.”

Judge Zebunnahar Ayesha of the Bandarban Women and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal delivered the verdict in the morning.

According to the case details, the incident occurred in a remote hilly area of Bhaggyakul in Bandarban on the night of February 2, 2021.

Hearing the victim’s screams, locals rushed to the spot, rescued the girl, caught three of the rapists—Rashed, Kayser, and Omar Faruq—and handed them over to the police.

The girl later filed a rape case against them at the Bandarban Police Station.

Rashed and Omar Faruq were later released on bail.