Sixteen people have been charged in Bangladesh over the shocking murder of a teenager who was burned to death after reporting sexual harassment.
Ms Nusrat Rafi, nineteen, was doused with kerosene and set on fire on the roof of her Islamic school on sixth April, days after filing a complaint that targeted her Headmaster, Siraj Ud Doula, who is among those charged.
The Police, who described the preparations for her killing as a military plan said Headmaster Doula ordered her murder from the prison when she refused to withdraw her accusations against him.
The case sparked mass protests in Bangladesh and shone a spotlight on the vulnerability of victims of sexual assault and harassment in the country.
It would be recalled that on sixth April, Ms Rafi attended the school to sit for her final exams when she was allegedly lured to the roof of the school and set alight by a group of people wearing burkas, a one-piece veil that covers the face and body.
According to the police, they planned it to look like a suicide act but Ms Rafi, who suffered eighty percent burns, was able to give a statement before she died on tenth April.
Investigators, who are calling for death penalty for all of the suspects, said the principal confessed in court that he ordered the murder.
In the wake of Ms Rafi’s death, Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina pledged that every person involved in the killing would be brought to justice.
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