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Published : 17 May 2025, 10:07 AM
A court has handed down the death penalty to Hitu Sheikh, the key suspect in the rape and murder of an 8-year-old child in Magura.
Three other suspects in the case -- Hitu's sons Sojib Sheikh and Ratul Sheikh, and his wife Zaheda Begum -- were acquitted.
Magura's Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge M Zahid delivered the verdict in the much-discussed case on Saturday, according to Public Prosecutor Monirul Islam Mukul.
Earlier in the morning, the four defendants were brought from prison to the Magura court under tight security.
The verdict comes just two months and 11 days after the incident.
The 8-year-old child from Magura’s Sreepur Upazila was raped while visiting her sister's house on Mar 6.
A week later, she died at Dhaka’s Combined Military Hospital (CMH).
On Apr 13, Magura Sadar Police Station Inspector (Investigation) Md Alauddin, the case's investigating officer, submitted a chargesheet against the four suspects at the district's Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court.
Later, Hitu, the father-in-law of the victim’s sister, gave a confessional statement to the court under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
He, however, drew the attention of journalists several times during the testimony in the case and said he was not involved in the incident.
THE INCIDENT
According to the chargesheet, the child went to Hitu's house in Sreepur Upazila's Nijnanduali village with her brother-in-law Sojib, alias Ismail, on Mar 1.
After spending five days there, on the night of Mar 5, the child went to bed with her sister and brother-in-law. The following morning, as others got engaged with their daily work, Hitu, the child, her sister, and Ratul remained at home, it added.
The child had her breakfast and went to sleep again. Hitu then woke up and found his daughter-in-law busy on the phone and entered the room to “fulfil his sexual desire”. But when he dragged her off the bed, she began screaming and Hitu strangled her with a scarf as she fell unconscious.
He then proceeded with the act, it said.
The chargesheet added that at one stage, Hitu brought an old blade from his room and cut her. He then left the blade under the mattress.
Charges were filed against Hitu under Section 9 of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Act.
PP Mukul said, “The state has been able to prove that Hitu Sheikh raped the child through the statement of the main accused under Section 164, DNA test report, forensic report, medical report, and witness testimony.
