Four to die for killing Rajon

Six others jailed for brutal torture on the 13-year-old

People raise hands and shout slogans demanding capital punishment for Samiul Alam Rajon's killers while the accused are being produced before a Sylhet court yesterday. Photo: Anisur Rahman

Tuhin Shubhra Adhikary and Mintu Deshwara, from Sylhet

Rajon and Rakib. The teen boys, both aged 13, from Sylhet and Khulna were killed by some brutes in July and August. The barbaric murders shook the nation to its core and stirred massive outcries in the social and mainstream media. Yesterday, two courts in the two districts sentenced six people to death for the murders.
A Sylhet court yesterday handed down the death penalty to four people for the brutal killing of 13-year-old Rajon that stirred a huge outcry all over the country.
Metropolitan Sessions Judge Akbar Hossain Mirdha meted out different jail terms to six others for their involvement in the killing. Three others were acquitted of all charges.
Before pronouncing the verdict, the judge said he had completed the trial proceedings within 17 working days.

“I wanted an example to be set so that the sensational cases … are disposed of quickly … because justice delayed is justice denied,” he said.
The cruelty of the four accused reminds us of barbarism and Bangladesh cannot go back to the age of barbarism, the judge said, reading out the summary of the 76-page judgment.
"I think capital punishment would suffice to stop the repetition of such occurrences," he said.

Immediately after the verdict, Rajon's mother Lubna Akter told journalists, "I am happy today. But I would get real justice when the killers of my son will be hanged."
The court handed the death penalty to the prime accused Quamrul Islam, Zakir Hossain alias Pavel, Saddique Ahmed alias Boro Moyna and Taz Uddin alias Badal. They were also fined Tk 10,000 each.
Boro Moyna was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment and fined Tk 11,000 on two more charges, in default of which he will have to serve three more months in jail.
Moyna's convictions will run concurrently, the court said.
Noor Ahmed alias Noor Mia, who filmed the brutal incident, was sentenced to life term in prison and fined Tk 10,000, in default of which he will have to serve two more months in jail.
Quamrul's brother Muhid Alam alias Muhit, Shamim Ahmed and Ali Haider were jailed for seven years' imprisonment and fined Tk 10,000 each, in default of which they will have to spend two more months in prison.
Ayaz Ali and Dulal Ahmed were jailed for one year and fined Tk 1,000 each. If they fail to pay, they will have to serve one more month in jail.  Among the convicts, Pavel and Shamim are on the run.
Firoz Ali, Azmat Ullah and Ruhul Amin alias Ruhel were acquitted as the charges against them could not be proved.

Family members of Samiul Alam Rajon on the premises of a Sylhet court that yesterday sentenced to death four people for killing Rajon. Photo: Star

From the morning, a large crowd gathered on the court premises. The judge took seat at 11:15am in a packed courtroom. When police brought the 11 accused to the court in a prison van, the crowd chanted slogans demanding their capital punishment. The accused were produced in the dock at 11:22am amid tight security.
During the delivery of the 71-minute verdict, the judge said the way they had beaten up Rajon by fastening his hands behind him with a pillar outraged public sentiment globally.
He said he had adjudicated the charges on the basis of confessional statements of the accused, testimonies of witnesses and the video footage.
MURDER, NOT CULPABLE HOMICIDE
About the defence argument that the accused had no intention of killing Rajon and that it was a culpable homicide, the judge said infliction of as many as 64 bruises and swelling injuries to the minor boy's entire body, including those to the forehead and the head, clearly indicated that the accused had the intention of murdering the boy.
RAJON WAS NOT A THIEF
The court also ruled out the allegation that Rajon attempted to steal a rickshaw van.
The judge said Rajon, in all likelihood, was playing with the said rickshaw van so that he was moving it forwards and backwards. He said Rajon was not stealing the van and it was rather the "misconception of the accused Saddique Ahmed alias Moyna Chowkidar.”
After the verdict was delivered, Rajon's family members, his father's lawyers, public prosecutors and people of Sylhet in general expressed satisfaction. The crowd on the court premises chanted slogans hailing the verdict.
On the other hand, defence lawyers said they would go to the High Court to challenge the verdict.
Public prosecutor Mishbah Uddin Siraj said, “We're satisfied with the verdict.”
THE KILLING
On July 8, Sheikh Md Samiul Alam Rajon was tied to a pole and beaten to death by a group of people in Kumargaon Bus Stand area of Sylhet Sadar allegedly for trying to steal a rickshaw van. He screamed for help, cried for water and begged for his life. But they laughed and jeered at him till the boy went silent forever. One of them even filmed the horrendous incident and shared it on Facebook.
Police filed a murder case accusing Quamrul, his brother Muhit and others with Jalalabad Police Station.
But Quamrul fled to Saudi Arabia immediately after the incident. The Bangladeshi community in Saudi Arabia helped police catch Quamrul on July 13 and he was brought back to the country on October 15.
The trial started on October 1. The court recorded testimonies of 36 prosecution witnesses and cross-examined 11 accused persons.

Six sentenced to death for brutal Bangladesh child murders

 November 8, 2015 5:57 AM

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Bangladesh police escort a suspect (C) in a high-profile murder case involving the brutal killing of a child at a court in the southwestern city of Khulna on November 8, 2015 (AFP Photo/)

Dhaka (AFP) - A Bangladesh court Sunday handed four men the death sentence over the brutal killing of a 13-year-old boy that provoked national outrage after video footage of the attack went viral, a lawyer said.

Another two men were ordered to hang for the separate torture and murder of another 13-year-old that occurred less than a month later, the prosecutor said.

In the first case, ten people were found guilty in the northeastern city of Sylhet of lynching Samiul Alam Rajon, a verdict that sparked cheers from hundreds of people gathered outside the courtroom.

"We're happy with the judgement. Samiul's parents are satisfied," Shahidul Islam, a lawyer representing his family, said after the Metropolitan Sessions Court's decision.

"I am sure the verdict will send a powerful message to all those child beaters and molesters," said Islam.

Samiul, accused of stealing a bicycle, was tied to a pole on July 8 and then subjected to a brutal assault in which he pleaded for his life. An autopsy found 64 separate injuries had been inflicted on the teenager.

A 28-minute video of the lynching, which was widely circulated after being posted on social media, prompted deep soul-searching among Bangladeshis as well as street protests to demand the perpetrators be hanged.

The lawyer told AFP that the main accused, Kamrul Islam, was sentenced to death. Three of his friends were given the same sentence, one of them in absentia after going on the run.

Another six accused were given jail sentences ranging from life through to one year, he said.

Kamrul Islam also fled, to Saudi Arabia, a day after the attack, but he was later arrested and extradited after outraged members of the country's large Bangladeshi expatriate community tipped off police.

In the video, the terrified youngster can be heard screaming in pain and repeating: "Please don't beat me like this, I will die."

At one stage he is told to walk away. But as he tries to get to his feet, one of the attackers shouts: "His bones are okay. Beat him some more."

Kamrul Islam's lawyer said he would appeal.

"He did not deserve death as he did not have any intention to kill the boy," the lawyer, who did not give his name, said.

In the second case in the southwestern city of Khulna, a mechanic and his assistant were sentenced to death on Sunday for torturing a 13-year-old former employee to death with an air compressor used for inflating tyres.

Police said the employer, Mohammad Sharif, became enraged after Rakib left his workshop for another job, and during the attack he inserted the compressor tube into his rectum and switched on the machine.

"The Metropolitan Sessions Court sentenced Sharif and his assistant Mohammad Mintu to death for the murder of Rakib," prosecutor Sultana Rahman told AFP.

Death penalty for 2 killers of Rakib

Trial completed in 11 working days; victim's family demand capital punishment for Sharif's mother

Mintu and Sharif

Amanur Aman from Khulna, and Wasim Bin Habib

Two persons have been handed down the death penalty for killing 13-year-old Rakib by pumping air into his rectum in Khulna, an incident that sparked outrage all over the country three months ago.
The murder of the teenage boy was "heinous and barbaric", Khulna Metropolitan Magistrate's Court yesterday said in its verdict, sentencing the prime accused, Omar Sharif, and his accomplice and uncle Mintu Khan to death.
This type of incident must not happen again in the country, and that is why such a verdict has been given, Judge Dilruba Sultana said while announcing the judgment in a packed courtroom around 1:30pm.
The trial proceedings were completed in 11 working days, which is “unprecedented” in the country, said the prosecution.
The court, however, acquitted Sharif's mother Beauty Begum, as the charges against her could not be proved.
The victim's parents and relatives were unhappy with the acquittal of Beauty, and said they wanted all the three to walk the gallows.
They chanted slogans outside the courtroom, demanding capital punishment for Beauty.

“We are happy that Sharif and Mintu were given the death penalty. But it is painful for me to see that the woman, who was present when the barbaric killing was carried out, has been acquitted,” said Rakib's father Nur Alam, who works in Satkhira.
The boy's mother, Lucky Begum, said she was shocked that Beauty was not handed down any punishment.
Terming her a "killer", Lucky said, "How could a mother tolerate her son torturing a minor boy mercilessly. She didn't even say anything, let alone stopping her son."
"She [Beauty] deserves to hang," said Lucky, who works as a domestic help.
After the verdict, advocate Mominul Islam, coordinator of Bangladesh Manabadhikar Bastabayan Sangstha's Khulna District Unit, told reporters that both sides have the option to file an appeal with the High Court if they wish.
Earlier, the accused were brought to the courtroom amid tight security around 10:00am.
The court sat around 1:00pm, and gave the judgment in the presence of Rakib's parents and relatives as well as many locals.
Rakib's nine-year-old sister Rima, who was at the court, was seen wiping tears from her eyes.

Relatives of Rakib at a Khulna court building after a verdict sentencing two to death for his killing. Photo: Star

On August 3, Sharif, owner of “Sharif Motors”, and his uncle Mintu Khan called Rakib, a former employee of Sharif, to his workshop in Tutpara Kabarkhana of Khulna when the boy went to a nearby store to buy some paint.
The duo stripped the boy, inserted a high-pressure air pump nozzle into his rectum and filled the body with air.
After Rakib became unconscious, Sharif and Mintu took him to a clinic and then to Khulna Medical College Hospital.
As the boy's condition deteriorated, his family decided to bring him to the capital for better treatment.
They started for Dhaka in an ambulance and stopped at Ad-din Hospital in Baikali, hoping to bring Rakib to the capital by a helicopter as they heard the hospital had the facility. But doctors there declared him dead around 10:30pm.
Rakib's intestines tore apart and lungs burst as air filled the abdomen. He died from multiple organ failure, police said, quoting doctors.
Locals caught Sharif, Mintu and Beauty, and handed them over to the police later that night.
Rakib, a school dropout, worked at Sharif's garage for Tk 50 a day for around two years to support his family. His “fault” was that he left the job at the workshop and joined elsewhere.
Rakib's family said he left the garage about five months ago, as Sharif and Mintu would often beat him. He then started working at another garage, which annoyed Sharif.
The boy's brutal murder triggered a barrage of condemnation and protest on the social media.
On August 4, Rakib's father filed a murder case with Khulna Sadar Police Station against Sharif, Mintu and Beauty.
Investigating officer of the case Sub-Inspector Kazi Mostak Ahmed pressed charges against the three on September 25. They were indicted on October 5.