A Dhaka court on Monday framed formal charges against the prime accused, Sohel Rana and his wife Swapna Akter in the case filed over the horrific rape and murder of eight-year-old Ramisa Akter in the capital's Pallabi neighborhood.

Judge Masrur Salekin of the Dhaka Metropolitan Child Repression Prevention Tribunal framed the charges against the couple.

The court has also fixed Tuesday to begin recording witness depositions in the case, according to the plaintiff’s lawyer, Advocate Azizur Rahman Dulu.

The two accused individuals were produced before the court at around 11 am amid tight security.

Ramisa Akter, the daughter of Abdul Hannan Molla, was brutally raped and murdered on May 19 by Sohel Rana, who lived as a tenant in a neighboring flat.

According to the details outlined in the case dossier, Sohel lured the young girl into his room and subsequently killed her after committing the rape.

Ramisa’s decapitated body was later discovered hidden beneath the bed, while her severed head was found concealed inside a bucket in the bathroom.

Following the crime, Swapna Akter was detained at the scene by alert neighbors and subsequently handed over to law enforcement.

Sohel Rana, however, managed to flee the apartment by cutting through a window grille.

He was later tracked down and arrested by police following a manhunt in the Fatullah area of Narayanganj.