VIQARUNNISA SCHOOL RAPE : Parimal jailed for life-term

Sacked Viqarunnisa Noon School and College teacher Parimal Joydhar was jailed for life term on Wednesday for raping girl of the school in the city four years ago.
The judge of the Dhaka Women and Children Repression (Prevention) Tribunal-4, Saleh Uddin Ahmed, in the verdict criticised investigation officer Sahadat Hossain for ‘negligence’ in investigating the case.
The tribunal observed that the negligence was unbecoming to a police inspector. The tribunal, however, neither ordered any legal action nor initiated any proceedings against the investigation officer for the negligence.
The tribunal also fined Parimal Tk 50,000 and ordered him to serve six more months in jail if he failed to pay the fine.
It also asked the authorities concerned to pay the amount to the girl in 90 days.
None of the victim family was present during the pronouncement of the verdict in a jam-packed courtroom.
According to the case, Parimal, also father of a boy, raped his student confining her to a room at his house twice in May and June 2011. He had also videoed the incident and blackmailed her.
The girl’s father filed a case with Badda police station against Parimal, the then school principal Hosne Ara and then its Bashundhara branch head Lutfur Rahman on July 5, 2011. Parimal was arrested at a relative’s house at Keraniganj.
The girl had complained to the authorities about the incident, but the school authorities initially paid no heed to it.
Parimal, who did his Masters from Bangabandhu College at Tungipara in Gopalganj, went into hiding after students and parents had taken to the streets demanding his arrest.
Amidst widespread protests and agitations by students, guardians and different quarters, the school authorities had to fire Parimal and suspend principal Hosne Ara Begum in July, 2011.
Badda police station officer-in-charge SM Shahadat Hossain, also the investigation officer of the case, submitted a charge sheet on August 11, 2011 dropping Hosne Ara and Lutfur Rahman.
On September 14, 2011, a Dhaka court ordered a further investigation into the case following a petition filed by the plaintiff.
Later, the Detective Branch of police submitted a supplementary charge sheet against Parimal alone on November 28, 2011.
The tribunal framed charge against Parimal on March 7, 2012.
In the verdict, the tribunal observed that the negligence of Shahadat Hossain in the investigation was unbecoming to a police inspector.
If the police officers investigate cases properly, that would be helpful to do justice to the victims, it said.
The tribunal, however, observed that the negligence of the investigation officer could not affect the trial and the prosecution proved the case against Parimal beyond any reasonable doubt through witnesses and evidences.
Formal trial started on June 6, 2012 with the recording of testimonies of the prosecution witnesses. The tribunal recorded testimonies of 28 of the 40 prosecution witnesses named in the charge sheet.
Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation panel lawyer Mahmuda Akter said that Parimal was not repentant at all since beginning of the trial and he should have been sentenced to death.
Defence counsel Md Mahfuz Miah said, ‘We will appeal against the judgement to the High Court.’

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