A court in Jamalpur has sentenced a mosque imam to life imprisonment and fined him Tk 500,000 for raping a 15-year-old student who attended his mosque for Quranic lessons in Dewanganj.
Judge Mohammad Abdur Rahim of the Jamalpur Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-1 delivered the verdict on Sunday afternoon.
The convicted man, Musa Mia, 27, also known as Musa Huzur, is the son of Md Monirul Islam of Harichandi village in Phulchhari upazila of Gaibandha district. He worked as an imam at a local mosque in Mondolpara, Sanandabari, in Dewanganj and taught Arabic to children.
According to the case statement, the incident took place on November 28, 2020, when the victim went to the mosque for Arabic lessons. The accused allegedly kept the student at the mosque after dismissing the other students and made the child perform cleaning duties before raping the victim.
The case further alleged that similar incidents occurred on December 1 and 2 that year.
After learning about the incidents, the victim's mother filed a case under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act with Dewanganj Police Station on December 8, 2020.
State counsel Fazlul Haque said the court found the charges proven based on the evidence presented and handed down the life sentence along with the fine.
Both the prosecution and the plaintiff's side expressed satisfaction with the verdict. The accused was present in court when the judgment was delivered.
