All five accused, including Safat Ahmed, son of Dildar Ahmed, owner of Apon Jewelers, have been acquitted in a rape case of two students at Raintree Hotel in Banani.
Court of Women and Child Abuse Preventition Tribunal-7 of Begum Mosa Kamrunnahar on Thursday (November 11) afternoon gave the verdict.
The accused in the case are Safat Ahmed, son of Dildar Ahmed, owner of Apon Jewelers, Sadman Sakif, friend of Safat Ahmed, Naeem Ashraf alias HM Halim, Safat's bodyguard Rahmat Ali and driver Billal Hossain.
Following the argument on October 3, the tribunal fixed the date of pronouncement of the verdict and ordered to cancel the bail of the five accused and send them to jail. At the defense hearing on August 29, the accused pleaded not guilty.
Earlier, the verdict was postponed due to the death of senior lawyer Abdul Baset Majumder on October 27. Earlier, the verdict was postponed once.
Before the verdict was announced, 22 of the 47 witnesses in the charge sheet testified.
On June 7, 2017, the investigating officer of the case, Ismat Ara, an inspector of the Women Support and Investigation Division (Victim Support Center) of the police, filed the charge sheet against the five in the court. Safat Ahmed was charged with rape and others with conspiracy to commit rape. On July 13, 2018, the tribunal framed charges against the accused.
Apart from Rahmat Ali, four other accused have given confessional statements in the court under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The two young women were brought to The Rain Tree Hotel in Banani on March 28, 2017 for a birthday party. The two girls were allegedly raped more than once after drinking alcohol. On May 6, a female student, who was allegedly raped, filed the case at the Banani police station in the capital.