The Murder of Rifat Sharif

The attack in Barguna

On June 26, 2019, Rifat Sharif was attacked near the main gate of Barguna Government College. Video of the assault circulated widely online and triggered national outrage. Reporting from the case consistently records that his wife, Ayesha Siddika Minni, was present at the scene and was seen trying to intervene during the attack. Rifat was taken for treatment and died later that day at a hospital in Barishal.

Rifat’s father filed a murder case after the killing. Police eventually submitted separate charge sheets for adult and juvenile accused, reflecting the ages of the defendants under Bangladeshi law.

Investigation and adult trial

The investigation named multiple suspects. Sabbir Hossain Nayan, widely identified in reporting as Nayan Bond and as a principal accused, died in a reported police “gunfight” in July 2019 and therefore never stood trial for Rifat’s murder.

Ten adult defendants were tried in Barguna. On September 30, 2020, the District and Sessions Judge sentenced six of them — Ayesha Siddika Minni, Rakibul Hasan alias Rifat Farazi, Abdul Kaiyum alias Rabbi Akon, Mohaiminul Islam Sifat, Rezwanul Khan alias Tiktok Ridoy and Md Hasan — to death. Four adult defendants were acquitted. The archive records those outcomes as trial-court judgments, not as the end of appellate review.

Separate juvenile proceedings

Fourteen juvenile defendants were tried separately in the Barguna Children’s Court. On October 27, 2020, that court sentenced six juveniles to ten years of imprisonment, four to five years and one to three years, while acquitting three others.

Keeping the juvenile case separate is important because the adult death-sentence proceeding and the children’s-court verdict involved different defendants, different sentencing rules and separate appellate questions.

High Court review and appeals

Bangladeshi death sentences require High Court confirmation before they can be executed. The death-reference papers for the six adult defendants reached the High Court in October 2020. Minni also filed an appeal challenging her conviction, and the High Court accepted that appeal for hearing in November 2020.

Later proceedings located for this review show that the merits remained unresolved for at least several years. In April 2024, Minni again sought bail while her murder appeal was still pending. A review of reliable reporting through August 30, 2026 did not locate a later High Court merits judgment finally disposing of the six adult death sentences or Minni’s appeal.

Current status

This case is classified as Partially Adjudicated. Trial courts convicted multiple adult and juvenile defendants and acquitted others, but the adult capital convictions remained subject to mandatory High Court review and appeal in the latest reliable material located. The page therefore does not describe any death sentence as finally executable or any pending appellant as having exhausted all review.