3 sentenced to death, 2 to life imprisonment for child murder 14 years ago

A Tribunal in Dhaka on Tuesday awarded death sentences to three accused and sentenced two others to life imprisonment for abducting and murdering an eight-year-old boy in Gopalganj 14 years ago.

The convicts sent to the gallows were Jamal Sheikh, Shamim Sheikh and Ranju Sheikh. The court sentenced Mahmuda Khanam Usha and Billal Sheikh to life imprisonment. It also fined each convict Tk50,000. Judge Farzana Yasmin of the Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 handed down the verdict, said state prosecutor Gias Uddin. The case documents reveal horrifying details of the abduction and murder through the confessional statement of convict Mahmuda Khanam Usha, in which she stated that the abductors burned the victim's eyelids to make sure he was dead.

Usha said they had kept eight-year-old Mahfuz confined at her house under her direct supervision for three days before killing him. They killed the boy in August 2012 by wrapping his trousers tightly around his neck and pulling from both ends until he suffocated to death. She further revealed that Ranju Sheikh burned the victim's eyelids to make sure that the child was dead.

According to the case documents, the complainant, Swapna Begum's eldest son, Mahfuz, went missing on 5 July 2012, on the night of Shab-e-Barat, after leaving home to attend prayers. The abductors then demanded a Tk7 lakh ransom from the family.

The case documents said that the abduction stemmed from a long-standing family and property dispute between the victim's family and the prime accused, Billal Sheikh, who emerged as the mastermind behind the crime. The case investigation revealed that the abductors moved the child from one place to another for 45 days to avoid detection.

They also kept him under strict and secret confinement, which left the child so weak and severely traumatised that he did not even have the strength to resist or attempt to escape.

Swapna Begum filed a case with Kashiani Police Station on 6 July 2012, and police submitted the charge sheet on 20 November of the same year. The court later framed the charges, formally initiated the trial on 13 February 2014, and recorded 23 out of 25 prosecution witnesses during the trial.