Chattogram court sentences 3 to death for 2020 murder of toddler Araf

A court has sentenced three people to death for drowning two-year-old toddler Abdur Rahman Araf in a water tank at a home in Chattogram’s Miakhan Nagar in an attempt to frame the landlord.

Judge Md Jashim Uddin of the Chattogram Third Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court delivered the verdict in the case on Wednesday in the presence of the suspects.

The condemned convicts are Md Farid, who lived in the building with Araf, Md Hasan, the guard of the building, and Nazma Begum, Hasan’s mother. All three were taken to jail after the verdict.

The verdict in the case was due on Mar 30, but was deferred as the judge had another appointment. A new date was set for Apr 28. However, the date was deferred again when one of the suspects petitioned to have the DNA of Araf’s mother and father tested.

The court scrapped the petition and found all three suspects guilty on Wednesday, said APP Prabir Kumar Bhattacharya.

“The court gave an exemplary verdict,” he said. “The killers had no feud with the innocent child or his family. It was simply because of the rivalry between two political leaders.”

“I am satisfied,” Araf’s father, Abdul Qayyum, told bdnews24.com after the verdict. “Let the verdict be implemented quickly. I have received the support of investigators and lawyers since this incident.”

“My family has been destroyed by the death of my poor, innocent boy. This verdict brings us some comfort. We hope the verdict will be upheld by a higher court.”

Following the verdict, the convicts’ friends and relatives broke down in tears, but they themselves were silent.

On Jun 6, 2020, two-year-old Araf was playing in a parking lot in front of the apartment building where he lived with his parents when he was coaxed to the roof of the building and drowned in its water tank.

The perpetrator of the crime was Nazma Begum, who killed the child under the orders of Md Farid, who was attempting to frame Nurul Alam, the owner of the building.

Nurul Alam was an Awami League candidate for the local ward councillor and Farid was a supporter of the BNP candidate.