STAR REPORT

Protests continued for the fourth consecutive day in Dhaka and elsewhere yesterday as the outcry for justice over the brutal rape and murder of eight-year-old Ramisa grew louder.

Students, local residents, and members of different social and cultural organisations formed human chains, held rallies, and blocked roads in the capital and other parts of the country, with many demanding capital punishment for the accused.

Meanwhile, Ramisa’s father, Abdul Hannan Mollah, yesterday said he believed justice would be served, citing assurances from the prime minister.

“The prime minister told me he had come to our Pallabi home as the father of a daughter and as an elder brother. I have 100 percent faith in the love he showed, his tears, and his assurance that I will get justice for my daughter’s murder. I believe we will get a fair and speedy trial,” he told local reporters in front of the family graveyard at his ancestral home in Shialdi village of Munshiganj’s Sirajdikhan upazila.

Earlier in the day, he left Dhaka to attend Ramisa’s khulkhani.

Ramisa, a Class-II student, was killed and beheaded. Her neighbour Sohel Rana was later arrested and charged with rape and murder. The accused has given a confessional statement before a magistrate.

The Dhaka Bar Association announced that it would not provide any legal assistance to the accused in the Ramisa murder case. The decision was made at a virtual meeting of the association’s executive

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