Rifat murder: Hearing on Minni’s bail plea deferred

The High Court today deferred to Thursday the hearing on a bail petition filed by Aysha Siddika Minni in the case filed over the murder of her husband Rifat Sharif in Barguna.

Minni yesterday submitted the petition through her lawyers citing different grounds on which the HC may consider her bail.

In the petition, Minni, who is now in jail, said she is innocent and she was not in anyway involved in the murder and that she had been falsely implicated in the case.  

She said she had been made witness no 1 in the first information report of the case and the FIR did not contain any specific allegation against her.

Minni added that she put her life in danger by desperately trying to prevent the attackers and save her husband, which has been videotaped and run by the media.

She said she had been made accused with an ulterior motive and on the instructions of a vested quarter.

Minni added that her confessional statement was recorded in violation of the directives issued by the apex court and hence, her statement under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) had no legal basis.

She claimed that her confessional statement was neither voluntary nor true.

She mentioned that the CrPC has a provision that women, sick or children etc, if accused in non-bailable offences, he/she may be considered for bail.

Yesterday, petitioner’s counsel ZI Khan Panna placed the bail petition before the HC bench of Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman.

Earlier, two separate courts in Barguna rejected Minni’s bail on July 22 and 30.

Police arrested Minni after a daylong interrogation on July 16. A court placed her on a five-day remand the following day. Three days later, a Barguna court recorded her statement.

On June 26, Rifat, 25, an internet service provider, was hacked to death in broad daylight in Barguna town.

In a video footage of the incident that went viral in social media, Minni was seen screaming and trying in vain to save her husband from the attackers.

Rifat’s father filed the murder case with Barguna Sadar Police Station against 12 people on the day of the murder.

Prime accused in the case, Nayan Bond, was killed in a “gunfight” with police on July 2.