A Dhaka court has sentenced a couple to life in prison for killing their child domestic aide in Kamalapur more than 18 years ago.
Judge Md Iqbal Hossain of Dhaka’s Special Judge’s Court-5 delivered the verdict in the presence of the convicts and sent them to jail on Tuesday.
Nazrul Islam and his wife Rabeya Akhter, both railway workers, were found guilty and fined Tk 20,000 each. They will serve an additional six months if they fail to pay the fines.
According to the case details, Shilpi Begum, 11, worked at Nazrul’s home on Kabi Jasim Uddin Road in North Kamalapur.
On Feb 22, 2006, her mother received a phone call informing her that Shilpi had been badly injured and was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Upon receiving the news, she rushed to the hospital and discovered that her daughter had sustained serious injuries.
Talking to the people around, she learned that Nazrul and his wife had assaulted Shilpi with iron rods and sticks within a locked room. This was not the first incident; they had beaten her multiple times before.
Shilpi died three days later while receiving treatment.
Her father, Sirajul Islam, then filed a case with Motijheel Police Station.
Sub-Inspector Gazi Mohammad Ibrahim of the police station submitted the charge sheet against the accused on Apr 30 of that year.
The court framed charges against the accused on Apr 26 of the following year and heard from six out of 22 witnesses during the trial.
“The plaintiff claimed during his testimony that his daughter died after falling from the roof,” Public Prosecutor Shawkat Alam told Barta7.
“However, this testimony was deemed unreliable. The defendants tried to exploit the plaintiff’s poverty by offering money to settle the murder case out of court. Circumstantial evidence wasexamined,” he said.
He said that there was a single witness present at home during the incident, but her testimony could not be obtained.
“I had requested the court to summon key individuals related to the case for testimony, but the request was denied.”
