The High Court has upheld the death sentence of Hitu Sheikh, the principal accused in the rape and murder case of eight-year-old Achia in Magura. A bench comprising Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja delivered the verdict at about 11am on Monday.

Achia was raped and sexually abused in early March 2025 while visiting her sister’s in-laws’ home in Nij Nanduali village of Magura. She was initially taken to hospitals in Magura and Faridpur with severe injuries, then admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and later the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka. She died during treatment on March 13, 2025.

On May 17, 2025, Judge M Zahid Hasan of the Magura Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal sentenced Hitu Sheikh, Achia’s sister’s father-in-law, to death. Three other accused—Achia’s sister’s husband Sajib Sheikh, his brother Ratul Sheikh and their mother Jaheda Begum—were acquitted. The tribunal’s records later reached the High Court as a death reference. The verdict had been scheduled for August 25 but was deferred following a state application.