Student of Visva Bharati gets life term in rape case

BOLPUR: A district court awarded life imprisonment to a PhD student of Visva Bharati University, Safikul Islam, for raping a minor, who was a student of a school under the same university in 2014.

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The court also directed payment of compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the victim from the state fund.

Islam hails from Dadpur area of Sirajganj district in Bangladesh and has been studying here on a student visa. The victim too belongs to the same district.

The judge, while pronouncing the judgment, said: “The gravity of the offence is high. There is no scope of leniency in awarding punishment.”

The incident came to light on December 6, 2014, when a Class 12 student of Patha Bhavan — the secondary and higher secondary school of Visva Bharati — lodged a complaint with the police, alleging that she was repeatedly raped and blackmailed by a research scholar of the varsity for five months.

The police arrested the accused on the same day. Two laptops, where several pictures of the girl were stored, were also seized.