Death penalty for 16 for setting Bangladesh student on fire who complained against sexual abuse

A Bangladesh court on Thursday 16 people to death for the murder of Nusrat Jahan Rafi, who was torched to death after protesting against sexual abuse by the principal of a madrasa.

SM Siraj-Ud-Doula, the madrasa principal who orchestrated the attack, was among those sentenced to death, said reports.

Feni Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Mamunur Rashid handed down the verdict on Thursday, seven months into the incident.

All the 16 convicts were present in the court at the time of the verdict. The incident took place on April 6 as she attended the seminary in her hometown Feni, a small town 160 km away from Dhaka, to sit in her final examinations.

She was lured to the rooftop of the building, where her attackers wearing burqas asked her to withdraw the sexual harassment complaint against Doula.

When she refused, she was doused with kerosene and set on fire, the BBC reported.

The case sparked mass protests and underlined the vulnerability of victims of sexual assault and harassment in Bangladesh.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pledged that every person involved in the killing would be brought to justice.