Death Sentence in 2016 Chattogram Child Murder Case

A Chattogram court on Tuesday sentenced a man to death for the 2016 murder of seven-year-old Mahfuz nearly a decade after the child was strangled and his body disposed of in the Halishahar area.

Chattogram Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Nishaduzzaman handed down the verdict, sentencing convict Md. Al Amin, 44 to death along with a Tk 25,000 fine for murder. He was also given seven years' rigorous imprisonment and a Tk 5,000 fine for concealing evidence and disposing of the body.

According to court bench assistant Md. Shahidul Islam, the verdict was based on testimony from 12 witnesses. Al Amin was convicted under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder and under Section 201 for destroying evidence and hiding the body, with an additional two months' imprisonment in default of the fine.

Case records show that on September 5, 2016, Mahfuz was strangled with a towel in a premeditated attack at Golidhipapara Toll Road area under Halishahar Police Station. His body was later dumped in a nearby canal to conceal the crime.

The child's father, Md. Mahabub, filed a murder case at Halishahar Police Station following the incident. After police completed their investigation and submitted a charge sheet, the trial began on April 27, 2017 with the framing of charges.

Al Amin is the son of the late Jinnat Ali of Karpasha Putihara area in Kishoreganj's Nikli upazila.