Sentenced to 16 people in Bangladesh for burning a young woman who reported harassment alive

• Asia: 16 people accused of burning a 19-year-old girl alive in Bangladesh

A court in Bangladesh on Thursday sentenced 16 people to burn alive a young woman who reported being sexually harassed by the director of the Islamic school where she was studying, who is among those sentenced to hang.

"All defendants have been sentenced to death under section 4 (1) and 30 of the Law for the Suppression of Violence Against Women and Children, which refers to murders with flammable substances and complicity," he said on departure. Court Shahjahan Saju, lawyer for the family of Nusrat Jahan Rafi, the 19-year-old girl killed last April.

Among the convicted are Siraj Ud Doula, the director of the madrasa where Nusrat was studying and against whom he filed the complaint for sexual harassment, as well as several teachers and students of the center.

The Feni District Court, in the southeastern province of Chittagong, also ordered each of those convicted to pay a fine of about 1,000 euros to the young woman's family.

Nusrat's murder dates back to April 6, when several individuals dressed as burkas tricked her into the roof of the school , where they asked her to withdraw the complaint of sexual harassment against the principal.

When they refused, they sprayed it with kerosene and set it on fire. Nusrat died four days later in a hospital after suffering burns in 80% of his body.

The defendants tried to pass the murder through a suicide , according to police investigation.

The young woman's brother, Mahmudul Hasan, said he was satisfied with the sentence.

"We are satisfied with the verdict, although we feel insecure because the defendants openly threatened us in court. We hope that the Prime Minister will ensure our safety as promised," he said.

Nusrat's murder sparked protests across the country promoted by human rights groups that denounced the increase in abuses against women.

Local organizations such as the NGO Odhikar say that in 2018 at least 47 women, including 32 minors, died after being raped in Bangladesh and about 635 cases of sexual abuse were documented

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