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A court has sentenced three people to death and two others to life imprisonment for the abduction and murder of an eight-year-old boy, Mahfuz, in Kashiani Upazila of Gopalganj. Each of the convicts was also fined Tk 50,000.
The verdict was delivered on Tuesday by Judge Farzana Yasmin of Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-4, according to public prosecutor Gias Uddin.
Those sentenced to death are Jamal Sheikh, Shamim Sheikh and Ranju Sheikh, while Mahmuda Khanam Usha and Billal Sheikh were sentenced to life imprisonment.
According to the case documents, Mahfuz was abducted on July 5, 2012, while on his way from his home in Barashur village to the Bhatiapara Railway Jame Mosque. The kidnappers later demanded a ransom from the boy’s family.
When the ransom was not paid, the child was held captive for about six weeks before being strangled to death at the house of Mahmuda Khanam Usha on the night of August 20, 2012, according to prosecutors. His body was later dumped in a mahogany grove beside his family’s home.
The prosecution said Mahfuz’s father was living in Italy at the time and that the family had a longstanding dispute with the accused.
Mahfuz’s mother, Swapna Begum, filed the case with Kashiani Police Station on July 6, 2012. The investigating officer submitted the charge sheet on November 20 that year.
Considering the gravity of the case, the Ministry of Home Affairs transferred it to Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 on December 22, 2013. The trial formally began on February 13, 2014, after charges were framed.
During the trial, 23 of the 25 prosecution witnesses testified, while the defence produced eight witnesses.
Earlier, on November 9, 2025, two juvenile accused in the same case, Mehedi and Saddam, were each sentenced to 10 years in detention.