A Cox’s Bazar court has sentenced three men to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for attempting to rape an Australian woman tourist. The verdict was delivered on Monday by Rokeya Akter, judge of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-2 in Cox’s Bazar. Each convict was also fined 50,000 taka, with an additional one-month simple imprisonment in case of non-payment. The convicted men are Md Ansarullah, Abdul Gafur, and Belal Uddin, all residents of Ramu upazila. Another accused, cottage owner Kaiyumul Haque Chowdhury, was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

According to the case details, Australian citizen Alyssa Brook Elliot arrived in Bangladesh on December 8, 2019, and stayed at Good Vibe Cottage near Mermaid Beach Resort in Cox’s Bazar. Two days later, the convicts entered her cottage at night and attempted to rape her while she was asleep. She managed to escape and called the national emergency service 999 for help. Police rescued her and provided medical assistance.

The court found the charges under sections 9(4)(b)/30 of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, 2000, proven beyond doubt after hearing six witnesses.