Two sentenced to death for double murder at Jatrabarhi

A court has sentenced two to death for murdering a widow and a child house help at Dhaka’s Jatrabarhi.

The two – Sayeed Howlader and Riaz Nagarali - were present in court when Speedy Trial Tribunal judge Abdur Rahman Sardar announced their verdict on Tuesday.

Howlader is brother to ‘Kalpana’, the young maid. Nagarali is his friend.

Twelve-year old ‘Kalpana’ and Rowshan Ara Begum, 68, were found with their throat slit in the latter’s two-storey flat at north Jatrabarhi’s Kalapatti area on the night of Mar 28.

Rowshan Ara Begum’s husband, former police official Abdul Kuddus, died in 1994.

The widow lived by herself with just house help Kalpana since all her five children, two daughters and three sons, live abroad. 

Rawshan’s brother, who filed the murder case the next day, mentioned that persons related to Kalpana may have been involved.

Jatrabarhi police arrested Sayeed Howlader from Shahjahanpur two days after the killing.

He told police he and his friend killed the victims at one point of an argument that started after he was denied Tk 10,000 as loan. 

He said he picked up a knife from the table at the house and used it to kill Rawshan. Kalpana was also killed because she was witness to the murder.