Bangladesh Court Sentences Man to Death for Rape and Murder of Four-Year-Old Girl

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A court in Jhenaidah has sentenced 33-year-old Abu Taher to death for the rape and murder of a four-and-a-half-year-old girl in the Kaliganj upazila earlier this year. In addition to the capital sentence, Judge Md. Salehuzzaman of the Jhenaidah Child Repression Prevention Tribunal ordered the convict to pay a fine of 500,000 taka. Taher also received a seven-year prison term and an additional 20,000 taka fine for attempting to conceal the victim’s body, with a provision for three months of rigorous imprisonment should he fail to pay.

The verdict, delivered Monday morning in the presence of the defendant, concludes a swift legal process that spanned just five working days. According to case records, the incident occurred on the morning of February 26, when Taher, a sales representative who lived as a neighbor to the victim, lured the child into his home with the promise of snacks. Once inside, he subjected the girl to sexual assault and, when she began to scream, suffocated her using his own clothing. To hide the crime, Taher later stuffed the child’s body into a sack and dumped it into a septic tank at a nearby secondary school.

Police apprehended Taher that same night at a rented residence in Kushtia after he fled the scene. Following his arrest, the defendant provided a confessional statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, detailing his role in the murder.

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The investigation into the case, led by Kaliganj police officer-in-charge Jellal Hossain, resulted in a formal charge sheet filed on May 26. Following the framing of charges on June 17 and the testimony of 16 witnesses, the court moved rapidly to finalize the proceedings.

Following the ruling, the victim’s father expressed satisfaction with the judgment and urged the swift execution of the sentence. The state prosecutor, Akidul Islam, lauded the verdict as a victory for justice in what he described as a particularly brutal case. The court-appointed defense attorney, Ashraful Islam Jowardar, declined to comment on the outcome.