7 of same family sentenced to death, 2 get life-term in Mymensingh murder case

A court in Mymensingh has sentenced seven members of the same family to death and two others to life imprisonment for the murder of college student Shahinur Islam Iqbal.

District and Sessions Judge Md Zakir Hossain announced the verdict in the presence of the accused at around 3:30 pm on Tuesday, April 21. The seven sentenced to death were fined Tk 50,000 each, while the two given life imprisonment were fined Tk 25,000 each. Failure to pay the fine will result in an additional year of rigorous imprisonment for those sentenced to life.

The condemned convicts are Asif Rana Naeem, 24; his father Golam Hossain, 55; Golam Hossain's brother Mohammad Ali, 56; Md Yunus Ali, 62; Shamsul Haque, 48; Mohammad Ali's son Md Farid Ahmed, 23; and Golam Hossain's cousin Md Abdul Helim, 55. Those sentenced to life imprisonment are Khaleda Akhter, 49, wife of Mohammad Ali, and Rehena Khatun, 48, wife of Golam Hossain.

State prosecutor Dr Md Rafiqul Islam said on the night of May 31, 2021, the victim, 19-year-old Shahinur Islam Iqbal, son of grocer Abdur Rauf, was killed following a land dispute. The killers hid the body in an abandoned septic tank. To avoid suspicion, they placed a dead fox and cow dung over the tank and planted trees.

After failing to find Iqbal, his elder brother Selim Mia filed a general diary at Tarakanda Police Station. Five days after the incident, police searched the septic tank near the accused's house and recovered Iqbal's decomposed body. The victim was a student of the Civil Engineering department at Mymensingh RoomyDo Polytechnic Institute.

The court delivered the verdict after examining the testimonies of 24 witnesses. The defence was represented by Advocate A H M Khalequzzaman.