6 sentenced to death over Bangladesh child murders
Print Edition
A BANGLADESH court yesterday handed four men the death sentence over the brutal killing of a 13-year-old boy that provoked outrage after video footage of the attack went viral, a lawyer said.
Another two men were ordered to hang for the separate torture and murder of another 13-year-old that occurred less than a month later, the prosecutor said.
In the first case, the Metropolitan Sessions Court in the northeastern city of Sylhet found ten people guilty of lynching Samiul Alam Rajon, a verdict that sparked cheers from hundreds of people gathered outside the courtroom.
“We’re happy with the judgement. Samiul’s parents are satisfied. I am sure the verdict will send a powerful message to all those child beaters and molesters,” said Shahidul Islam, a lawyer representing his family.
Samiul, accused of stealing a bicycle, was tied to a pole on July 8 and then subjected to a brutal assault in which he pleaded for his life. An autopsy found 64 separate injuries had been inflicted on the teenager.
A 28-minute video of the lynching, which was widely circulated after being posted on social media, prompted deep soul-searching among Bangladeshis as well as street protests calling for the attackers to be hanged.
The lawyer said the main accused, Kamrul Islam, was sentenced to death. Three of his friends got the same sentence, one of them in absentia after going on the run.
Another six accused were given jail terms ranging from life through to one year.
Kamrul also fled, to Saudi Arabia, a day after the attack, but he was later arrested and extradited after outraged members of the country’s large Bangladeshi expatriate community tipped off police.
In the second case in the southwestern city of Khulna, a mechanic and his assistant were sentenced to death yesterday for torturing a 13-year-old former employee to death with an air compressor.
Police said the employer, Mohammad Sharif, became angry after Rakib left him for another job, and during the attack he inserted the compressor tube into his rectum.
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