Man sentenced to death for killing child after abduction

A Dhaka tribunal has sentenced M Mokbul Hossain to death for abducting and killing a 10-year-old boy, Tawhid Islam, in South Keraniganj after collecting ransom from his family.

Judge Munshi Md Moshiur Rahman of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-4, Dhaka, handed down the verdict on Wednesday.

Alongside the death penalty, the tribunal also sentenced Mokbul to life imprisonment under another section and fined him Tk 700,000. The court directed that the amount be realized by selling his movable or immovable property and handed over to the victim’s family through the district magistrate.

State prosecutor Ershad Alam George said the convict was present during the pronouncement of the verdict and was later sent to jail with the conviction warrant.

According to the case documents, Tawhid, a student of a madrasa and orphanage in Rasulpur, South Keraniganj, went missing on February 10 last year after leaving class in the evening. Mokbul abducted the child and later demanded ransom from his family.

Although the family delivered the ransom money the following morning at a location chosen by Mokbul, the child was not released. The family then sought help from the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), which arrested Mokbul and later recovered Tawhid’s body from a septic tank.

Following the investigation, police submitted a charge sheet against Mokbul on July 31 last year under sections 302 and 201 of the Penal Code and relevant provisions of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. A total of 18 witnesses testified in the case.

Mokbul, a resident of Lakhirchar area under Keraniganj Model Police Station, was found guilty on all counts.

MAL/HKJ