14 years on, death penalty for three, life term for two in child abduction-murder case

A court has sentenced three people to death and two others to life imprisonment in a case over the abduction and murder of eight-year-old Mahfuz in Kashiani, Gopalganj, 14 years after the incident. Each convict has also been fined Tk 50,000.

Judge Farzana Yasmin of Dhaka's Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 delivered the verdict on Tuesday, July 7. State prosecutor Gias Uddin confirmed the outcome.

Those sentenced to death are Jamal Sheikh, Shamim Sheikh and Ranju Sheikh. Mahmuda Khanam Usha and Billal Sheikh received life imprisonment.

According to the case details, on July 5, 2012, neighbours abducted Mahfuz while he was on his way to the Bhatiyapara Railway Jame Mosque from his home in Borashur village of Kashiani upazila. The family demanded a ransom, and when they failed to pay, the boy was strangled on the night of August 20, 2012, at Mahmuda Khanam Usha's house. His body was then dumped in a mahogany garden near the family home.

Mahfuz's mother, Swapna Begum, filed a case at Kashiani Police Station on July 6, 2012. The investigating officer submitted a charge sheet against five people on November 20 that year. Two minors were dealt with separately.

The case was transferred to Dhaka's Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 on December 22, 2013. Trial began on February 13, 2014. During the trial, 23 out of 25 prosecution witnesses testified. Earlier, on November 9, 2025, two minor accused were sentenced to 10 years in detention in the same case.