Police escort accused Sohel Rana from Dhaka court premises on May 20. File Photo: Star

The death reference of the case filed over the rape and murder of eight-year-old Ramisa was sent to the Supreme Court today.

“We have sent a three-page death reference, a 69-page judgement and other relevant documents of the case to the office of the registrar general of the Supreme Court this afternoon,” Pankoj Peter Gomes, bench assistant of the Children Violence Suppression Tribunal in Dhaka Metropolitan, told The Daily Star.

According to legal experts, a death reference is a mandatory judicial process through which a trial court’s death sentence is sent to the higher court for confirmation before it can be carried out.

On June 7, tribunal judge Masrur Salekin sentenced prime accused Sohel Rana to death for raping and murdering Ramisa, and his wife, Swapna Khatun, to death for assisting him in committing the crime.

The judgement came 19 days after the horrific incident in Dhaka’s Pallabi area that set off a fierce wave of public outrage, prompting the government to pledge swift justice. Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman said this was the fastest trial in Bangladesh.

In addition to the death penalty, Sohel was fined Tk 5 lakh, while Swapna was fined Tk 2 lakh. The tribunal ordered the fines be paid to the victim’s “legal heirs”. If the convicts fail to pay the fines, the district collectors will recover the amount by auctioning off the convicts’ movable and/or immovable properties and pay it to the victim’s family, said the court.

Ramisa, a class 2 student of Popular Model High School, was found beheaded on May 19 in the house of her neighbour, Sohel.

The following day, Ramisa’s father Abdul Hannan Mollah filed a case with Pallabi Police Station, accusing the couple and an unidentified person.

According to the case statement, Sohel called Ramisa into his room and raped her. Investigators said he later slit her throat and attempted to dismember the body to conceal the crime.

On May 24, investigator Ohiduzzaman, Sub-Inspector of Pallabi Police Station, submitted the charge sheet before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s (CMM) Court in Dhaka, accusing Sohel and Swapna.

Several hours later, the CMM Court transferred the case to the Children Violence Suppression Tribunal for trial.

On June 1, the tribunal framed charges against the accused.

The following day, the tribunal completed testimony.

A total of 16 prosecution witnesses, including the victim’s parents and elder sister, three neighbours, a doctor, a Dhaka metropolitan magistrate and the investigator, gave their statements before the tribunal.