Man sentenced to death for murder of 5-year-old Alina in Chattogram

The child was killed before her body was chopped up and thrown into the sea, sparking widespread outrage

A Chattogram court has sentenced a man to death for the 2022 murder of 5-year-old Alina Islam Ayat.

Chattogram Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Muhammad Ali Akkas delivered the verdict in the case against Abir Ali, who was a neighbour to the victim, on Wednesday.

Abir was in court to hear the verdict.

While delivering the verdict, the judge said: "Murder is a heinous crime against humanity. It isn’t just that an innocent child was killed, but the dead body was also abused after the murder. Dismembering the body into six pieces and insulting it shows an extreme disregard for human values and multiplies the crime. This stirs anxiety in society. Any leniency such crimes goes against the notions of justice."

The court's Public Prosecutor Jalal Uddin told bdnews24.com that since the charges against the accused were proven beyond a doubt, he was also fined Tk 100,000 in addition to the death sentence.

Following the closing arguments, the trial reached the verdict stage on May 23.

Alina, the daughter Sohel Rana, a resident of the port city’s EPZ Thana, was killed on Nov 14, 2022. Her body was then chopped up and thrown into the sea.

The brutal killing sparked nationwide outrage.

An investigation found that Alina was killed by her neighbour Abir.

Alina went missing on the afternoon of the incident while studying Arabic at a mosque next to the house. Abir was arrested and interrogated by the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI). Later, Abir confessed that after killing Alina, he cut the body into six pieces and threw it into the sea.

At that time, police said Abir's family had been tenants of the Ayat family in Nayarhat for about 21 years. He was also born in that house.

However, his mother rented a separate house in the Pocket Bazar area after she separated from his father. Abir had initially kept Alina's body in that house, and cut it into six pieces to hide it.

During the interrogation, Abir said he also had the key to the downstairs flat where his father lived. On the afternoon of Nov 14, he entered their house with Alina in his arms and strangled the child to death.

On Nov 25 that year, following Abir’s arrest, the PBI said Abir had kidnapped the child for “ransom, but killed her when he could not find a place to keep her.

Even then, he planned to demand money from her father. For this, he had bought a mobile phone. He thought to use a SIM card he had found in the street earlier to make the call, but eventually found that it was not working.

Abir eventually led PBI personnel on raids in various places and recovered the Boti blade used in the murder and Alina's shoes. On Nov 30, 2022, the PBI recovered Ayat's legs from a hole in the switch gate adjacent to Akmal Ali Ghat on Outer Ring Road. The next day, the PBI recovered her severed head.

Alina's father filed a murder case at the EPZ Police Station over the incident. Later, Abir's father, mother and younger sister were also arrested. A 17-year-old teenager was also arrested on allegations of knowingly concealing the murder.

After the murder, the PBI tested the DNA of the blood spatter found at Abir's house and found it to be a match with the DNA of the child victim.

Following an investigation, PBI Chattogram Metro Inspector Manoj Kumar Dey – the investigating officer in the case - submitted a chargesheet to the court on Oct 9, 2023. It was recommended that Abir Ali be charged and his parents and sister be acquitted.

After the chargesheet was submitted, the trial in this murder case began.

A chargesheet was also submitted against the 17-year-old teenager, Abir's accomplice, for knowingly concealing the murder and dismembering the body.

Since the teenager is a minor, his trial is being conducted separately in the children's court.