BANGLADESH: DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDER OF CHILD

April 5, 2012: One man, Rakib Sonar, 25, was sentenced to death and another was sentenced to life in prison by a trial tribunal in Rajshahi city, Bangladesh, for killing a baby, at Gurudaspur two and half years ago.
The convicts were also fined 1,00,000 taka each while the person sentenced to life, Nazmul Haque Khaja, 24, will face one year more in the prison if he fails to pay the fined money.
Main accused Rakib Sonar was tried in abstentia.
Judge of Speedy Trial Tribunal Ekramul Haque Chowdhury found the convicts guilty and pronounced the verdict at around 11am in the presence of the three accused.
Two other accused- Atahar Sonar, father of Rakib, and his aunt Rina Begum - were acquitted as the charges brought against them could not be proved.
According to the prosecution, Rakib Sonar, said he was taking the child Sabuj for a football match at Chanchkoiir School on November 30, 2009.
But they did not return to the house on that day. Sabuj’s body was found in a canal in Atgram village on the following day.
Sabuj’s father file a police complaint and four people were charged after an investigation.
Rakib Sonar confessed to the police that he strangulated Sabuj and left the body in the canal with help of his microbus driver Nazmul Haque Khaza. (Sources: gulf-times.com, 06/04/2012)