Shariatpur, Jan 16: A Shariatpur court has sentenced five men to death for the gang-rape and murder of a housewife in 2019.
The districts Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Md Sohel Ahmed also fined the convicts Tk 100,000 each in the verdict delivered on Tuesday.
The convicts are - Nizam Bali, 45, Mohammad Ali, 35, Omar Faruk Bepari, 24, Al Amin Bepari, 20, and Ibrahim Molla, 21. All of them are residents of Sutolkathi village in Damudya Upazila.
The court delivered the verdict in presence of the two accused while the others are absconding.
After the verdict, the court sent the two accused, who appeared before the court during the verdict, to jail.
Shah Jalal Howlader, the son of the victim, said he was pleased with the verdict and urged the government to implement the verdict as early as possible.
Prosecutor Sanal Mia also expressed satisfaction over the outcome, calling it a historic verdict.
On April 18, 2019, 55-year-old Firoza Begum from Bhuiyan Bazar village went missing from her home around 5 pm. On April 21, police found her mutilated body in an abandoned pond 10 km away on the property of Abdur Rahman Master in the Boro Naogaon area.
The following day, Firozas younger brother Lal Mia Sardar filed a murder case against 13 named suspects and 2-3 unnamed suspects at a Shariatpur court.
A police investigation found that five of those named in the case were involved in the murder.
On April 28, police arrested Nizam Bali in connection with the killing. The following day, police arrested Omar Faruk and Mohammad Ali. They confessed to the rape and murder of the victim in court.
Two other suspects - Ibrahim and Al Amin - absconded. When Omar Faruk was released on bail, he fled too.
Police later filed a chargesheet against the five suspects.
The Shariatpur Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal heard the testimony of 22 witnesses before delivering Tuesdays verdict.
