Feni madrasa girl Nusrat Jahan Rafi. File photo

Journalists have curious minds which dig out information and if they are given the scope to publish that information, they will surely do it since there is no element of offence in it, the High Court observed yesterday.

The observation was made by HC bench of Justice Md Habibul Gani and Justice Md Riaz Uddin Khan.

The bench made the observation while hearing a petition filed by convict Moazzem Hossain, former officer-in-charge of Feni's Sonagazi Police Station, seeking bail in a case filed against him for filming madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi's statement and circulating the clip on social media without her consent.

During the hearing, Moazzem's lawyer Murad Reza told the court that the clip was not circulated by his client. He claimed that a journalist had collected the video clip from the mobile phone of Moazzem and spread it on social media. Therefore, his client has not committed any offence, the lawyer said.

After hearing the arguments, the HC bench made the observation about journalists.

The bench also refused to grant bail to Moazzem as there is a specific allegation against him that he recorded and circulated Nusrat's statement without her permission.

It kept the bail petition stand over (waiting for hearing) for the next three months, Deputy Attorney General Md Rezaul Karim told The Daily Star.

He said Moazzem sought bail from the HC on the ground that he has been in jail for a long time since June 16, 2019 in connection with the case.

On November 29, 2019, a Dhaka court sentenced Moazzem to eight years' rigorous imprisonment for the said offence.

Nusrat, a student of Sonagazi Islamia Senior Fazil Madrasa in Feni, was set on fire on April 6, 2019 allegedly for refusing to withdraw a sexual assault case filed against the madrasa's principal Siraj Ud Doula. After fighting for her life for five days, she died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.