DHAKA: A Bangladesh appeals court upheld on Monday the death sentence for an ex-head teacher convicted of murdering a teenage student, who was burned alive after she accused him of sexual harassment, in a case that shocked the country.

The court also maintained the death penalty for a co-conspirator in the murder of Nusrat Jahan Rafi, while 10 other defendants were acquitted. The murder of the teen, who was doused in kerosene and set on fire after she made the harassment complaint against the head of her rural religious school, horrified Bangladesh.

Nusrat suffered burns to 80 percent of her body and died in hospital four days later.

The former head teacher, SM Siraj-Ud-Dowlah, is among the two sentenced to hang. Four other defendants had their death penalties reduced to life terms by the appeals court.

Nusrat’s death triggered outrage across the nation, with protesters in the capital Dhaka staging days of demonstrations seeking “exemplary punishment” for the killers.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2026