Husband sentenced to death for burning wife to death over dowry in Keraniganj

A Dhaka court has sentenced a man named Dulal Hossain alias Dulu to death for burning his wife to death over a dowry demand in Keraniganj.

The court also fined Dulal Hossain Tk 200,000 for the killing of his wife, Sharmin.

The verdict was delivered nearly 10 years after the killing.

Judge Munsi Md Mashiur Rahman of the Dhaka Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-4 handed down the verdict on Sunday (September 13), said public prosecutor Md Ershad Alam.

The court also ordered the Dhaka district magistrate or collector to recover the fine by selling Dulal’s movable and immovable property and hand the money to the victim’s family.

Four other accused — Dulal’s brother Harun, sister-in-law Morshena, sister Sumaiya and brother-in-law Raju — were acquitted for lack of evidence linking them to the crime.

According to the case, Dulal married Sharmin in 2001 and they had a daughter. The prosecution alleged that Dulal had been physically abusing Sharmin over a Tk 200,000 dowry demand.

On September 17, 2016, Dulal allegedly beat Sharmin before pouring kerosene over her and setting her on fire. Neighbours rescued her and took her first to Mitford Hospital and later to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where doctors found burns covering about 85 percent of her body. She died after 13 days in treatment on September 30.

Sharmin’s mother, Momela Begum, filed the case with Keraniganj Model Police Station.

Police submitted a charge sheet against six people in January 2017, while the trial court examined nine witnesses. One accused, Dulal’s mother Zorina Begum, died during the proceedings.