BANGLADESH: TWO GET DEATH, 12 GET LIFE OVER BARGUNA FISHERMEN MURDERS

January 30, 2017: A Barguna court awarded death sentence to two accused in a case filed over the murder of two fishermen by drowning in the district. The court also gave life imprisonment to 12 others.
The verdict was announced by Barguna Additional District and Sessions Judge Md Abu Taher on January 30, reports bdnews24.com.
Sixteen fishermen had set out on a trawler to fish in the Bay of Bengal on Feb 14, 2010, said Assistant Public Prosecutor Akhtaruzzaman Bahadur qoting the case details.
“Two of the fishermen were drowned after they were convinced a local ‘prophet’ could resurrect the dead,” he said.
The victims were Barguna Sadar Upazila residents ‘Aynal’, 24, and ‘Farooq’, 40.
A total of fifteen suspects have been convicted over their deaths.
Md Babul Mazhi, 45, and Md Rustum Ali Howladar, 50, received the death sentences.
The fishermen were all from the same village.
The ‘prophet’, Habibur Rahman Jamaddar, received seven years in prison. He hails from Barguna’s Patharghata Upazila.
Aynal’s older brother filed a murder case against 15 suspects at the Barguna Sadar Police Station on Mar 6, 2010 after hearing of the incident from the fishermen, said the prosecutor. (Sources: thefinancialexpress-bd.com, 30/01/2017)