Bangladesh court upholds death sentence over teacher who burned teen alive

A Bangladesh appeals court upheld the death sentence for a former headteacher who burned alive a teen student who 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 teen, who was doused in kerosene and set on fire after she made the harassment complaint against the head of her rural Islamic school, horrified Bangladesh.



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



The former headteacher, 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.



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