Three sentenced to death, two to life for child murder committed 15 years ago

A Dhaka court on Tuesday sentenced three convicts to death and two others to life imprisonment in a case over the abduction and murder of an eight-year-old boy in Gopalganj about 15 years ago.

Judge Farzana Yasmin of the Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 delivered the verdict, State Prosecutor Gias Uddin said.

The convicts sentenced to death are Jamal Sheikh, Shamim Sheikh and Ranju Sheikh, while the two convicts sentenced to life imprisonment are Mahmuda Khanam Usha and Billal Sheikh. The court also fined each of them Tk50,000.

According to the case documents, the accused demanded a ransom after kidnapping the eight-year-old Mahfuz on 5 July 2012. The child was kidnapped while he was on his way from his home in Barashur village of Kashiani upazila to the Bhatiapara Railway Jame Mosque.

When the demand was not met, they kept the child confined for about one and a half months before strangling him to death at the house of the accused, Mahmuda Khanam Usha, on 20 August 2012. The body was later dumped in a mahogany garden beside the victim's family home.

Following the incident, Mahfuz's mother, Swapna Begum, filed a case with Kashiani Police Station on 6 July 2012, while police submitted the charge sheet on 20 November of the same year.

The court later framed the charges and formally initiated the trial on 13 February 2014. During the trial, 23 out of 25 prosecution witnesses testified, while the defence produced eight witnesses.

Earlier, in the same case, two juvenile accused, Mehedi and Saddam, were each sentenced to 10 years' detention on 9 November 2025.