Abdul Hannan Molla the father of eight-year-old deceased girl Ramisa Akhter expressed satisfaction on Sunday after a Dhaka court sentenced two people to death in the rape and murder case of his daughter.
Neighbours described the judgment as a rare example of speedy justice and called for similar action in all cases of violence against women and children.
Hannan Molla, the plaintiff in the case, arrived at the Dhaka Metropolitan Child Violence Prevention Tribunal at around 1035 am to hear the verdict.
Judge Masrur Salekin began reading the verdict at exactly 11am. The presence of Ramisa's father, who lost his only daughter, created an emotional atmosphere in the courtroom. In the verdict, the tribunal sentenced the main accused, Sohel Rana, and his wife, Swapna Akhter, to death for the brutal rape and murder of the second-grade schoolgirl from Pallabi.
After the verdict was announced, Abdul Hannan Molla expressed his satisfaction and relief.
"I am happy, Alhamdulillah. This verdict has fulfilled my hopes and expectations. Insha Allah, I am 100 percent optimistic that the verdict will be implemented quickly," he said.
"By the mercy of Allah and within the time given by the Honorable Prime Minister, we have received the verdict we wanted," he added.
He also thanked the judge, police administration, journalists and the people of Bangladesh for standing beside his family during the difficult period.
"I sincerely thank everyone who supported us mentally. Now I want to see the verdict implemented as quickly as possible," he said.
Security was tightened around the court premises from the morning ahead of the verdict.
The main accused, Sohel Rana, was brought from prison to the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court at 850 am. His wife and co-accused, Swapna Akhter, was brought shortly before him. Both were later presented before the court during the verdict announcement.
The verdict came just 19 days after the crime, making it the fastest murder case verdict in Bangladesh's judicial history.
