Court hands Abir Ali death penalty in Chattogram child Aayat murder case

A Chattogram court sentenced Md Abir Ali to death for the abduction, murder and dismemberment of five-year-old Aayat in a case that shocked the nation and sparked widespread public outrage.

Judge Muhammad Ali Akkas of the Chattogram Sixth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court passed the order on Wednesday (June 17).

In addition to the death penalty, the court fined the convict Tk 100,000.

According to court officials, arguments from both the prosecution and the defence concluded on June 13. During the trial, the prosecution presented testimony from 33 witnesses. After reviewing the evidence and witness accounts, the court found Abir guilty and handed down the maximum punishment.

The case dates back to November 14, 2022, when five-year-old Aayat went missing in the Noyarhat area under EPZ Police Station in Chattogram while on her way to attend Arabic lessons at a nearby mosque.

Investigators later revealed that Abir, a neighbour of the victim's family, had abducted the child with the intention of demanding ransom.

According to the investigation, he subsequently killed her by suffocation after failing to find a safe place to keep her hidden. In an attempt to conceal the crime, he dismembered the body into six pieces and disposed of the remains in different locations.

Sixteen days after the murder, on November 30, investigators from the Police Bureau of Investigation recovered two legs of the victim from a pit near the Switch Gate area adjacent to Akmal Ali Ghat on Chattogram's Outer Ring Road. The following day, police recovered the child's severed head from the same area.

The gruesome killing triggered nationwide condemnation and renewed calls for swift justice in crimes against children. Following a lengthy investigation and trial, Wednesday's verdict marked a significant milestone in the high-profile case, bringing a measure of closure to the victim's family nearly four years after the tragic incident.