Nusrat held and doused with kerosene by Jabed and Moni

One of the accused in the madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi’s murder case, Jabed Hossain, said he had doused Nusrat with kerosene before she was set ablaze.

Another of the accused, Kamrunnahar Moni, said she first held Nusrat tight when she was forcefully taken to the roof. Jabed wore a burkha to conceal his identity.

All this was revealed in the Jabed and Moni’s confessional statements made in the court of senior judicial magistrate Sharaf Uddin Ahmed in Feni on Saturday.

Moni was taken on five-day remand after being arrested on 16 April. She had bought three burqas for the young men involved in the attack on Nusrat at the madrasa in Sonagazi, Feni. Sakhawat Hossain Jabed was arrested on 13 April and taken on 7-day remand on the same day. He has been taken on a 3-day remand again on Friday, according to Mohammad Shah Alam, inspector of Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI). Jabed and Kamrun were Nusrat's classmates.

Earlier, five of the accused, including Nur Uddin, Shahadat Hossain Shamim, Abdur Rahim Sharif, Abdul Quader, Umme Sultana Popy, gave confessional statements under section 164 at the court. All of them admitted direct involvement in Nusrat murder.

According to their statements so far, madrasa principal Siraj Ud Doula had sent directives from jail to set Nusrat on fire. After he was arrested, the accused met him several times at the Feni jail. Also in keeping with his directives, a meeting was held by the 'council to release the principal' around 10:00am on 4 April. On the same day, another meeting was held in the bedroom of madrasa teacher Quader around 10:00am. A total of 12 persons including Jabed took part in the meeting. The murder was reportedly planned there.

According to the plan, Quader, Nur Uddin, Rana, Abdur Rahim aka Sharif and Imran and others kept watch at the madrasa gate on 6 April. Five persons called Nusrat to the roof of the madrasa cyclone shelter, tied her up, doused her in kerosene and set her on fire. There were three men and two women among them. Three of the men, Shahadat Hossain, Jobayer Ahmed and Jabed Hossain, were in burqa and were accompanied by Umme Sultana Popy and Kamrunnahar Moni. Teacher Afsar kept watch at the madrasa gate. Md Shamim and Mahiuddin Shakil took position in front of the cyclone shelter.

A total of 21 persons have been detained so far in connection with the murder.

Nusrat was a student of Sonagazi Islamia Senior Fazil Madrasa in Sonagazi upazila of Feni. She was set ablaze on 6 April for refusing to withdraw a case filed against principal Siraj Ud Doula of the madrasa for sexually harassing her. After fighting for her life for five days, she died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on 10 April.

Source: Prothom Alo