Court in Bangladesh awards Death Sentence to 16 for burning alive a Rape Victim who refused to turn hostile

On Thursday, 16 people were given death penalty for burning alive a Bangladeshi teenager who rejected to withdraw sexual assault charges against her headteacher.

The case highlights what activists say is a culture of impunity over sexual violence in the South Asian country of 168 million people, as well as abuse rife in around 20,000 seminaries that educate mostly poor & rural students.

On 6 April, Nusrat Jahan Rafi was doused in kerosene & set on fire after she made a sexual harassment complaint against the principal of her rural Islamic seminary.

The headteacher, who a Court in the southern coastal town of Feni found had ordered the brutal killing from jail after being arrested over the harassment claim, was among those sentenced to death. Others included activists from the ruling Awami League party & some students — including 2 females — who either participated in the killing or guarded the gates of the seminary while it took place.

After the verdict in a crowded courtroom, prosecutor Hafez Ahmed said, “The verdict proves that nobody will get away with murder in Bangladesh. We have the rule of law".

Nusrat Jahan Rafi was lured to the rooftop of the seminary in Sonagazi where her attackers forced her to withdraw the complaint she had filed with police. When she refused, she was tied up, doused in kerosene & set on fire. She suffered burns to 80% of her body & died in hospital 4 days later.

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