12 November 2023 :
A court in Bangladesh on November 8, 2023 handed down the death penalty to two people for murdering a housewife in Manikganj in 2020.
Two others, including the victim's daughter, have been jailed for life in the case.
Manikganj District and Sessions Judge Jayasree Samaddar delivered the verdict in the presence of all four convicts.
The capital punishment recipients are 24-year-old Md Rakib Hossain from Dhaka’s South Keraniganj and 20-year-old Md Mahfuzar Rahman from Nilphamari’s West Golmonda. Additionally, they were each fined Tk 20,000.
The victim's daughter, 19-year-old Julekha Akhter Jyoti, and 25-year-old Md Shafiur Rahman were sentenced to life in prison and fined Tk 50,000 each.
The court acquitted another suspect in the case, said public prosecutor Abdus Salam.
According to the case dossier, Zahirul Islam, a resident of South Sewta in Manikganj, went for a morning walk on Jan 22, 2020. Upon returning home, his daughter, Jyoti, informed him that her mother, Mahmuda Akter, was busy with cooking.
Zahirul then proceeded upstairs to feed the pigeons. He later discovered his daughter in tears. Upon entering the room, he found his wife, Mahmuda, lying on the bed under a blanket. He later noticed that her nose was bleeding.
Mahmuda was immediately rushed to Manikganj District Hospital, where the attending doctor declared her dead.
The following day, Zahirul filed a murder case with Central Police Station.
Three years after her marriage, Jyoti connected with Nayeem through Facebook and the two started having an affair. Later in November 2019, she divorced her husband, according to the case's investigation officer, SI Md Shamim Al Mamun.
Upon learning of Jyoti's affair, her mother decided to arrange her marriage to another person. In response, Jyoti and Nayeem conspired to murder Mahmuda.
Nayeem subsequently hired Rakib and Mahfuzar for Tk 150,000 to carry out the act.
On May 31, 2020, SI Shamim pressed charges against five suspects in the case.
After a trial that involved the testimony of 21 witnesses, the court handed down convictions to four of the accused on November 8.
Expressing their dissatisfaction with the verdict, defence lawyers Aminul Haque Akbar and Khandaker Sujon Hossain stated their intention to appeal to the High Court.
