2 jailed for kidnapping schoolgirl

The convicts are Dulal and Jalal.

Dulal was awarded 18 years' rigorous imprisonment (RI) while Jalal 15 years' RI for kidnapping Mariam Akhter, 12, a student of class six of Mirpur Girls' Ideal Laboratory Institution.

Judge Mohammad Shamsul Arefin of the Fifth Special Tribunal for Prevention of Women and Children Repression handed down the sentence in presence of Dulal. Jalal was tried in absentia.

After cross-examination of seven prosecution witnesses, the court gave the verdict.

The punishment of the fugitive will be effective from the day of his arrest or surrender, the judge said.

Mariam was kidnapped at about 11:45am on December 30, 2001 while she was going to her school. After 30 days of the incident, the kidnappers demanded Tk 2 lakh as ransom to the victim's father for his daughter's release over telephone.

Later, Gulshan police rescued the victim from Karail Basti (slum) at Mahakhali and arrested Dulal and Jalal from there.

Special public Prosecutor Rezaul Karim Nizam appeared for the state while Advocate Faruq Hossain defended the accused.