Shirin Akhtar, the mother of murdered madrasah student Nusrat Jahan Rafi, expressed satisfaction with a High Court ruling that upheld death sentences for two men in her daughter’s killing and demanded security for her family, saying they had been threatened.

“After Nusrat was killed, many people tried to portray it as suicide. Today’s verdict has proved once again that it was murder,” she said at her home in Sonagazi, after the ruling. “I’m satisfied with this verdict.”

She added: “We are being threatened that our houses will be set on fire to finish us. We demand security for our family from the prime minister and the concerned authorities.”

A High Court bench of Justice Bhishmadev Chakraborty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja announced the verdict at noon after hearing the death reference, appeals and jail appeals. It upheld death sentences for SM Siraj-ud-Doula, then principal of Sonagazi Islamia Fazil Madrasah, and Shahadat Hossain Shamim. Four other defendants — Umme Sultana Poppy, Mohammad Nur Uddin, Shahadat Hossain Jabed and Iftekhar Hossain Rana — were sentenced to life imprisonment. Ten defendants were acquitted.

Relatives of the defendants and the victim were present as Justice Rasheduzzaman Raja read out the verdict.

A specific High Court bench was formed on June 10 to hear death references, appeals and miscellaneous matters under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act on a priority basis and began proceedings on June 14; the hearing concluded on August 20.

According to court documents, Siraj-ud-Doula called Nusrat to his room on March 27, 2019 and violated her. He was arrested after a case was filed. On April 6, 2019, Nusrat was called to the madrasah roof. Her hands and feet were then tied and kerosene poured over her before she was set on fire. She died under treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on April 10. Her brother filed a case that was later converted into a murder case.

The Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal in Feni sentenced 16 people, including dismissed Principal Siraj-ud-Doula, to death on October 24, 2019. The death reference and case documents reached the High Court on October 29, 2019. As a high-profile case, the paperbook was prepared on a priority basis for the death reference. The defendants also filed separate appeals and jail appeals.