Three to die for killing woman over dowry in Barguna

Victim Mahima Begum was electrocuted to death in 2019, according to the charges

A Barguna court has sentenced three people to death for murdering a housewife in Pathorghata Upazila over dowry demands.

The verdict was delivered on Tuesday by Judge Begum Lailatul Ferdous of Barguna’s Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal, said Public Prosecutor Ronjuara Sipu.

Those sentenced are Kabir Talukder, 59, of Rayhanpur Union in the Upazila, his second wife Elachi Begum, 50, and their son-in-law Sujan, identified with a single name.

According to the case documents, Kabir married Mahima Begum around 30 years ago. Their daughter Rekha was later married to Sujan, the son of Elachi Begum from a previous marriage.

Rekha later killed herself.

Later, Kabir married Elachi, the mother-in-law of his late daughter. He reportedly continued to pressure his first wife Mahima for dowry.

On Oct 25, 2019, Kabir, Elachi and Sujan electrocuted Mahima to death, the court was told.

Mahima’s son Helal Talukder filed a case against five people over the murder. Two of the suspects were later dropped from the charges after investigation.

On Feb 29, 2020, the investigating officer Sub-Inspector Torikul Islam submitted the final charges against the remaining three.

In addition to the death sentence, each convict was fined Tk 100,000.

Speaking after the verdict, plaintiff Helal said he was “satisfied” with the judgement and urged its swift enforcement.

Lawyers Tarikul Islam Toru Farazi and Imran Hossain represented the suspects in court.