Death Penalty for Chattogram Child Ayni's Murder

A Chattogram court has sentenced 38-year-old Md. Rubel to death for the attempted rape and murder of nine-year-old Ayni in the city's Pahartali area. He was also convicted of concealing her body.

Judge Mohammad Saifur Rahman of the Chattogram Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-2 delivered the verdict on Monday July 20. Rubel was present in court when the sentence was announced.

State prosecutor Mahmud-ul Alam Chowdhury Maruf stated that the charges were proven beyond a reasonable doubt based on the testimonies of 24 witnesses. The court sentenced Rubel to death under Section 302 of the Penal Code. Additionally he received a life sentence and another 10 years of rigorous imprisonment under separate sections, along with a Tk 5,000 fine.

According to case records Ayni a fourth-grade student went missing on March 21, 2023. Her mother subsequently filed a general diary (GD) with the Pahartali Police Station. During the investigation police arrested local vegetable seller Md. Rubel. Based on his information Ayni's decomposed body was recovered from a pond in Pahartali nine days later along with her clothes and sandals.

Rubel confessed to the crime in a statement given under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Court documents reveal that Rubel, who was acquainted with the child lured her to his aunt's empty house with the promise of giving her a kitten. When his rape attempt failed he strangled Ayni hid her body in a bag, and used his vegetable van to dump it in a ditch.

Following a formal complaint filed by Ayni's mother police submitted a charge sheet. After reviewing the evidence the tribunal tried Rubel on charges of kidnapping attempted rape murder and concealing a body. The accused has been in jail since his initial arrest.