BANGLADESH: SUPREME COURT COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY OF CHILD RAPIST

August 3, 2015: In a rare instance, the Supreme Court commuted a “teenage boy's” death sentence to jail until death for murdering a child after rape in 1999.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, passed the order after hearing the review petition filed by convict Sukur Ali and rights organisation Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trusts (BLAST).
Sukur was 14 when he committed the crime 16 years ago in Manikganj. He was handed down death penalty in 2001.
Talking to The Daily Star, Sukur's mother Banu Begum, 55, said she was happy with the apex court's order.
“I've seen the news on television. I would be happier if he gets freed from jail after a few years …. I'm not sure if he had committed the offence or not,” she added.
She met her son, now 30, at Kashimpur Jail in Gazipur on July 19, the day after the Eid-ul-Fitr, and found him well.
Petitioners' lawyer Nazneen Nahar Dipu told this correspondent that to her knowledge this was the first time the Appellate Division commuted a convict's sentence following a review petition. (Sources: thedailystar.net, 04/08/2015)