The Supreme Court has “seized” the criminal judicial powers of Mosammat Kamrunnahar, former judge of Dhaka Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-7, who drew flak for saying that rape cases should not be recorded if 72 hours have passed following the crime.
The Appellate Division issued the order seizing her judicial powers on Monday following a hearing. Kamrunnahar appeared in court at 9.30 am.
The full verdict will be published later, reports bdnews24.com citing the court.
Earlier, the top court said it had temporarily suspended her judicial powers, and sent a letter to the law ministry instructing that she be reassigned to its Law and Justice Division.
Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain had removed the judge’s judicial powers and temporarily suspended her from judicial work.
In a verdict on Nov 11, Kamrunnahar acquitted Shafat Ahmed, the son of an Apan Jewellers co-owner, and four others on charges of raping two university students at the Raintree hotel in Dhaka’s Banani in 2017.
In her observations, the judge wrote:
“The investigating officer submitted a biased charge-sheet in the case. The medical reports on the victims did not find any signs of sexual violation. The DNA found on the victims’ clothes did not match the suspects. The victims came to the police 38 days after the incident, saying they had been raped. The investigating officer should have given the matter proper consideration.”
Instead, the officer “wasted the public’s time”, the judge said, instructing that no rape cases should be filed if 72 hours have passed since the incident.
She also said it was proved that the university students had consensual sex before the incident.