The Murder of Nusrat Jahan Rafi

The complaint that preceded the killing

Nusrat Jahan Rafi was a 19-year-old student at Sonagazi Islamia Fazil Madrasa in Feni. On March 27, 2019, her family filed a sexual-harassment case against the institution's principal, SM Siraj-ud-Doulah. Police arrested him and he was sent to jail.

According to the prosecution case later examined by the High Court, pressure then built around Nusrat to withdraw the complaint. Supporters of the principal sought his release, and the criminal case developed around the allegation that a plan was made to kill Nusrat after she refused to step back from the accusation.

The attack and Nusrat's death

On April 6, 2019, Nusrat went to the madrasa to sit for an Alim examination. The prosecution said she was taken to the roof area and attacked as part of the plan formed against her. She survived long enough to receive medical treatment and give information about what had happened.

Nusrat was transferred through local medical facilities to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital. She died on April 10, four days after the attack. Her death triggered protests and national scrutiny of violence against women, institutional retaliation and the way complaints of sexual harassment were handled.

The investigation

Nusrat's brother filed a case on April 8 while she was still alive; after her death it became a murder case. The Police Bureau of Investigation later took over amid criticism of the local police response. Investigators submitted a charge sheet against 16 people in late May 2019, and charges were framed in June.

The trial moved unusually quickly. The tribunal heard 87 witnesses and completed testimony and arguments in 61 working days. That speed later became part of the High Court's broader review of how the trial court had assessed individual responsibility and punishment.

The 2019 trial: sixteen death sentences

On October 24, 2019, the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal in Feni convicted all 16 defendants and sentenced every one of them to death. The court also imposed fines. Because Bangladesh law requires High Court confirmation before a death sentence can stand, the records reached the High Court as a mandatory death reference five days later.

The defendants also filed criminal and jail appeals seeking acquittal. For years the case remained in the High Court system until a specially constituted bench began hearing the death references and appeals on July 28, 2026.

The High Court changes the case in 2026

On August 24, 2026, the High Court delivered a substantially different result from the trial court. It upheld the death sentences of former principal SM Siraj-ud-Doulah and Shahadat Hossain Shamim. Four other defendants — Nur Uddin, Saifur Rahman Mohammad Zobayer, Umme Sultana alias Poppy and Jabed Hossain alias Sakhawat Hossain — had their death sentences changed to life imprisonment.

The remaining ten defendants were acquitted. The High Court also sharply criticized the trial court for imposing death sentences on all 16 defendants without adequately distinguishing their individual criminal responsibility. It directed the law ministry to withdraw the criminal judicial powers of the judge who had delivered the wholesale death sentences.

Why the High Court distinguished the defendants

Reporting on the August 2026 judgment says the High Court found the evidence against Siraj-ud-Doulah and Shahadat Hossain Shamim sufficient to maintain the most severe punishment. The court considered Siraj's role in the conspiracy after Nusrat accused him of sexual harassment and examined confessional and circumstantial evidence relating to Shahadat and the other defendants.

The four defendants whose sentences became life terms were still found criminally responsible. The ten acquittals, however, are legally different. Whatever allegations appeared during investigation or trial, the High Court did not maintain their convictions. This page therefore does not continue to label those ten people as convicted participants.

The treatment of Nusrat's own account

The High Court considered Nusrat's statements about the events an important part of the evidence. Contemporary reporting on the judgment emphasized that the court found her dying declaration reliable. Crime by Region does not reproduce the most graphic parts of that evidence; its significance lies in the way it helped the court evaluate the prosecution case.

The court also rejected the defence theory that the death was suicide. The High Court's ruling is therefore important not only because it changed the sentences but because it reaffirmed that Nusrat was murdered while simultaneously narrowing the group of people legally responsible.

Current status

As of August 27, 2026, the most recent major judicial event is the High Court judgment of August 24. Two death sentences stand at High Court level, four defendants have life sentences and ten have been acquitted. Further appellate steps may follow, especially in a case involving capital punishment and acquittals, so this archive does not describe every possible legal remedy as exhausted.

The case is classified Solved / Adjudicated because criminal responsibility has been established through trial and High Court review for six defendants. The page will require revision if a later Appellate Division ruling changes those convictions, sentences or acquittals.

Timeline