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Published : 07 Jul 2026, 04:26 PM
A court has sentenced three people, including two brothers, to death for the 2012 kidnapping and murder of a child in Gopalganj’s Kashiani.
In addition, two others have been handed life in prison.
Judge Farzana Yasmin of Dhaka's Fourth Speedy Trial Tribunal announced the verdict on Tuesday.
Jamal Sheikh, his brother Ranju Sheikh, and Sheikh Shamim Ahmed received the death penalty for the murder, while Mahmuda Khanam Usha was sentenced to life in prison.
Usha was also fined Tk 50,000.
Another suspect - Sabbir alias Rajib - was acquitted as the murder charge against him was not proven.
In addition, Billal Sheikh, Jamal, Ranju, Shamim, and Usha have also been sentenced to life in prison for the kidnapping and aiding and abetting the kidnapping of the child. Each of them has also been fined Tk 50,000.
However, Mizanur Rahman Mizan, Kamna Begum, Sheikh Sohrab, Tuhin Sheikh, Sheikh Shakib Ahmed, Rakib Sheikh, Sabbir Ahmed, Minarul Islam and Manju Sheikh were acquitted as the charges of kidnapping and aiding and abetting against them were not proven.
State lawyer Gias Uddin said, “The accused are absconding. An arrest warrant has been issued against them along with a sentence warrant.”
In an observation before the verdict, the court said: “This is not just a murder case. Rather, it is a document of the tragic fate of an innocent child who was a victim of violence by some criminals in human form. Eight-year-old Mahfuz, who had gone out to offer prayers on the holy night of Shab-e-Barat, was kidnapped and held for about a month and a half for ransom. Later, when they did not get the money, he was brutally strangled to death and his body was dumped in a mahogany garden.”
The court also said, “Exemplary punishment has been given so that no one else in society dares to commit such a brutal and inhuman crime.”
According to the case details, on the night of Shab-e-Barat on Jul 5, 2012, Mahfuz, the 8-year-old son of Rezaul Islam – an expatriate living in Italy - was kidnapped from his home in Barashur village in Kashiani Upazila while on his way to offer prayers at the Bhatiapara Railway Jame Mosque.
The next day, Mahfuz’s family was called and a ransom of Tk 7 million was demanded.
On the same day, Mahfuz’s mother Swapna Begum filed a case at the Kashiani Police Station.
When the police investigated, they arrested two minors and took them before a court. They confessed to kidnapping and killing Mahfuz due to a family dispute.
The investigation revealed that they killed Mahfuz by strangling him. The child was held captive for 35 days before he was brutally tortured to death. On the night of Eid, Aug 20, the child’s body was left near his house.
On Aug 21, Swapna filed a supplementary complaint in this regard.
On Nov 20 that the same year, Kashiani Police Station Sub-Inspector Nizam Sikder filed a chargesheet against 14 suspects in court following the investigation.
Conviction papers were submitted for the two minors.
In consideration of the case’s gravity, it was transferred to the Speedy Trial Tribunal in Dhaka on Dec 22, 2013, at the decision of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Later, on Feb 13, 2014, the trial began with the framing of charges in the case.
During the trial, the tribunal heard the testimony of 23 out of 25 witnesses.
Eight witnesses testified in defence of the accused. The verdict was delivered on Tuesday after hearing from both sides.
