Bangladesh court upholds Nusrat Rafi death sentences

A Bangladesh appeals court upheld death sentences for former Islamic school headteacher SM Siraj-Ud-Dowlah and a co-conspirator on August 24, 2026, in the murder of Nusrat Jahan Rafi, a teenager who was burned after accusing the headteacher of sexual harassment.

The court acquitted 10 other defendants and reduced four death sentences to life imprisonment. In 2019, a court had sentenced 16 people to death in the case.

Nusrat was doused with kerosene and set on fire after making the complaint against the head of her rural Islamic school. She suffered burns to 80 percent of her body and died in hospital four days later.

The appeals court rebuked the earlier court for handing out "wholesale death sentences". Attorney General Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal said in court that four defendants tied Nusrat's hands and legs and doused her with kerosene to ensure her death.

Nusrat's older brother, Mahmudul Hasan, said the family was receiving messages threatening retaliation and asked the government to ensure their security.