A court has sentenced five accused to death for killing a woman after gangrape in Shariatpur district.
The Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal in Shariatpur district sentenced them to death for killing the woman after gang rape in 2019.
Shariatpur Woman and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal judge Md Sohel Ahmed handed down the verdict.
The court also fined each of the convicts Tk 1 lakh. Three of the convicts -- Ibrahim, Al Amin and Faruk -- remain absconding.
The condemned convicts are Nizam Bali, 45, Mohammad Ali, 35, Omar Faruk, 24, Al Amin Bepari, 20 and Ibrahim Molla, 21 of Damudya upazila.
According to the prosecution, the 55-year-old Firoza Begum, of Bara Naogaon under Damudya upazila was found dead at a ditch on April 18, 2019.
On the following day, Lal Mia, brother of Firoza filed a case against 13 people.
On April 28, police arrested Nizam Bali. Faruk and Mohammad on the following day.
The arrested persons later confessed to the court that they had committed the crime. They confessed that they had first gang raped Firoza and then killed her.
The case statement reads that the 55-yerar-old victim Firoza Begum of Bhuiyan Bazar area under Dhanakathi union of Damudya upazila went missing at about 5:00pm on April 18, 2019. On April 21, police found her dead body with broken hands and head injuried from an abandoned ditch on the east side of Abdur Rahman Master's house at Bara Naogaon area under Purbo Damudya, some 10 kilometers off the place, from where she went missing.
On the following day, being the plaintiff, the victim's younger brother Lal Mia Sardar filed a murder case at Shariatpur court mentioning the names of 13 accused and also two to three unidentified accused. Then police submitted a chargesheet against five of teh accused as they were involved in the gruesome murder, while the rest of the accused were acquitted.
On April 28, police arrested Nizam Bali on charge of his involvement in the murder. Then accused Omar Faruk and Mohammad Ali were arrested. The trio confessed to the court that had murdered the woman after gangrape. They also submitted statements confessing their involvement of the murder of Firoza Begum.
Two other accused -- Ibrahim and Al-Amin have been absconding, while Omar Faruk fled away after receiving bail from court. Later, police submitted chargesheet against the five accused.
After recording the testimonies of 22 witnesses, the Women and Children Repression Prevention tribunal of Shariatpur district delivered the judgement in the case.
Slain Firoza Begum's son doctor Shahjalal Howlader said, "We are satisfied over the judgement. We plea to the government to execute the verdict as quickly as possible."
Advocate Sanal Mia, public prosecutor of the Women and Children Repression Prevention tribunal of Shariatpur, termed the verdict as 'historic,' saying it is a historic judgement. "A woman was gangraped and brutally murdered. The court sentenced five accused to death in the case. We are satisfied at the verdict."
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