A court in central Assam’s Hojai on Wednesday awarded death sentence to the prime accused in the rape and murder of a 58-year-old school teacher more than a year ago.
The court of additional district and session judge pronounced death sentence for Moinul Haque while co-accused Salimuddin was given life sentence.
The two were caught on June 1 last year, a day after the body of the teacher of Changjurai Ilashi Deuri Primary School near Jamunamukh was found near river Kopili. The teacher used to routinely cross the river by boat to commute to and from the school.
“Post-mortem report revealed the teacher was raped. We collected clinching evidence that the duo was involved,” a police officer investigating the case had said.
The two confessed to have followed the teacher for some time before waylaying her as she was returning from school on May 31. Data with Assam police show there were more than 10,000 cases of crimes against women, including rape, between 2007 and 2017.