Wrongly jailed woman released after 3 years, only to die in a road crash

A woman who suffered three years of jail time for a crime she did not commit was killed in a road accident in Chattogram within two weeks of release, reports UNB.

On 28 June, Minu Akter died in a road crash on the city's Bayezid connecting road. Unable to identify the body, Anjuman Mufidul Islam, a welfare organisation buried her body as an unclaimed one.

Later, Minu’s brother Rubel identified the body as his sister's when a police team went to Sitakundu and showed him a photo.

Officer-in-charge (OC) of Bayezid Bostami police station Md Kamruzzaman said on the night of the incident, patrol police removed her twice from the road as she was behaving abnormally.

Minu’s lawyer Golam Mawla Murad said, “After spending three years in jail of a life sentence as a convicted murderer who she was't, Minu finally was freed on June 16 this year.”

On 7 June, the high court ordered to release Minu Akter, who had been serving a life term on behalf of the real convict Kulsum Akter for money.

Besides, the court ordered the special public prosecutor of Chattogram Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-2, MA Naser and junior lawyers Nurul Anwar and Bibekananda Chowdhury and clerk Showrabh to submit written explanations about their role in the fraudulent act within two weeks.

In October 2007, Kulsum was arrested in a case filed over a garment worker’s murder in 2006. Two years later she was freed after being granted bail by a Chattogram court.

On 30 November, 2017, Chattogram fourth additional metropolitan session court found Kulsum guilty and sentenced her to life in prison, besides asking her to pay a fine of Tk 50,000.

On 12 June, 2018, Minu, pretending to be Kulsum, surrendered to police and began spending time behind bars. According to case proceedings, she did it for money.

In 2019 advocate Iqbal Hossain filed a petition on the sentence passed by the lower court on behalf of Minu, pretending to be Kulsum.

Following which the case document was sent to the High Court on 12 June the same year.

On 18 March this year, senior jail super of Chattogram central jail Md Safiqul Islam Khan noticed the issue of fraudulence and brought the matter to Chattogram court’s notice. Following the court’s order Minu was brought before court on 22 March.

In the court Minu said, “Three years back a woman named Morzina, promising to give me some rice, sent me to jail and said after Ramadan she will bring me out.”

“Now I want to be out of jail," she said. Later a sub-document of the case was sent to the high court and advocate Shishir Munir presented it before court.

The accused of the case Kulsum was a housewife living in Rahmatganj under Kotwali police station with her husband. Minu used to live in a slum in the city with her three children before ending up in jail as Kulsum.