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Published : 17 Jun 2026, 04:04 PM
A Chattogram court has sentenced a man to life in prison for raping a 3-and-a-half-year-old child in the city’s Bakalia.
He has also been fined Tk 50,000.
Judge Syeda Hafsha Jhuma of the Chattogram Children Violence Suppression of Tribunal handed down the verdict on Wednesday, Public Prosecutor Mahmud-ul Alam Chowdhury Maruf said.
He said the charge against Monir had been proven, leading to a life sentence and a fine.
The case’s testimony, defence statement, and closing arguments were completed over five working days.
The verdict has come within 25 days of the incident.
The hearing of testimony in the case began on Jun 10, with 18 witnesses testifying over three working days before concluding on Sunday.
On Monday, Monir claimed in his defence statement that he was “innocent”, though no defence witnesses were produced on his behalf.
The prosecution and defence presented closing arguments on Tuesday.
The 32-year-old convict hails from Gharghata in Muradnagar Upazila of Cumilla district.
In Chattogram, he lived in Miya Khan Nagar in Bakalia and worked at a decorator's shop near Chairman Ghata.
Allegations that Monir had raped a child surfaced on the afternoon of May 21, after which police went to the scene and detained him.
When police attempted to take Monir to the police station, local residents blocked them, saying they wanted to ensure the man's punishment themselves.
Unable to move Monir to the station despite two hours of effort, police fired tear gas shells that evening.
Locals then gathered around police vehicles, and repeated clashes turned the Bakalia area into a battleground, with a police truck set ablaze.
At least 40 people, including journalists, were injured.
The child was rescued and taken to the One Stop Crisis Centre at Chattogram Medical College Hospital that day, while her father filed a case at Bakalia Police Station.
Police said Monir gave a confessional statement when he was produced before Chattogram Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Bakkar Siddik’s court on the afternoon of May 22.
Chattogram Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner (South) Hossain Md Kabir Bhuiyan had told bdnews24.com at the time that the child's father was in Dhaka and her mother was at a garment factory on the day of the incident, leaving the child with her grandmother.
He said Monir had taken advantage of the situation to attempt or commit the rape.
After two weeks of investigation, the case's investigating officer, Bakalia Police Inspector (Investigation) Tanvir Ahmed, submitted the chargesheet to court on Jun 4, charging Monir under Section 9(1) of the Prevention of Women and Children Repression Act, 2000 (amended 2003).
A total of 22 people were listed as witnesses.
Judge Jhuma framed charges against Monir on Jun 9 and ordered the trial to begin, with evidence recording starting the following day.
