DU rape case: hearing deferred to September 20

A tribunal in Dhaka today deferred to September 20 the hearing of a case filed against Md Majnu over rape of a Dhaka University student in the capital's Kurmitola area.

The adjournment came as Judge Begum Mosammat Quamrunnahar of the Seventh Tribunal for Prevention of Women and Children Repression was on leave today.

Meantime, the complainant was present at the tribunal to give her statement.

Earlier on August 26, the tribunal framed charges against the accused in the case.

On March 16, Detective Branch Inspector Abu Bakar Siddique, also investigation officer (IO) of the case, submitted the charge sheet against Majnu, the lone accused in the case, to Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in Dhaka.

The IO also brought charges of assaulting and snatching a mobile phone, wristwatch and money from the victim's possession.

On January 5, a DU student was raped while she was walking from Kurmitola bus stop to a friend's house near Shewra Railgate around 7:30pm after disembarking from a university bus.

She regained consciousness around 10:00pm, after which she somehow managed to make it to her friend's house. Her friend later took her to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

The next day, the girl's father filed a case with Cantonment Police Station, accusing unknown people.

On January 8, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested 30-year-old Majnu from Shewra area.  On January 16, Majnu gave a confessional statement to a Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate.