SC upholds death penalty of one, commutes 3 others to life term imprisonment

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the death sentence of one convict and commuted that of three others to life term imprisonment in a case filed for killing a child after rape in 2004.

A five-member virtual bench of the Appellate Division led by chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order after hearing separate petitions, reports news agency UNB.

The court upheld the death sentence of Shukur Ali, son of Khayer Ali of Daulatpur upazila in Kushtia.

The three other convicts whose death sentence has been commuted are-Azanur Rahman, son of Abu Taleb, Nuruddin Sentu, son of Pijab Uddin and Mamun Hossain, son of Sirajul Pramanik of the same upazila.

Lawyers SM Shahjahan and Ragib Rauf Chowdhury stood for the petitioners while deputy attorney general Biswajit Debnath represented the state.

According to the prosecution, the convicts abducted a 13-year-old girl on 25 March 2004 while she was returning home after watching TV from a neighbour’s house at Lalnagar village in Daulatpur upazila of Kushtia district.

Later, they took the girl to a tobacco field and raped her in turns. They also killed the girl.

Victim’s father filed a case on the following day against five people with Doulatpur police station.

On 4 February 2009, Kushtia Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal judge Akbar Hossain sentenced five people to death in the case.

During the trial proceedings, another convict Kamu alias Quamrul, son of Abdul Goni died.

In 2014, the High Court upheld the death sentence of four convicts.