Chattogram: A Chattogram court today sentenced a garment worker, Md. Sakhawat Hossain, 29, to two life terms under separate sections in a case involving the kidnapping and ransom demand for a four-year-old child in the Patenga Thana area of the city. In the same verdict, the court sentenced his wife, Mosammat Kamala Begum, to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the court acquitted three other accused, including Sakhawat’s mother and brother, due to a lack of evidence proving their guilt. The court of Women and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal-7, under Justice Ferdouse Ara, delivered the judgment in the Saima Akter abduction case. Additionally, Kamala Begum was fined TK 20,000 and will face an additional six-month imprisonment if she defaults on the payment.
The prosecution’s brief outlined that Sakhawat Hossain was renting a sublet from Md. Sohel in the Khejurtola area of Patenga Police Station. Due to unpaid rent, Sohel requested Sakhawat to vacate the premises.
On the evening of June 13, 2018, Sakhawat visited Sohel’s house and took his four-year-old daughter, Saima Akhter, under the pretense of buying her chips, subsequently demanding a ransom of TK 10,000 via phone. The following day, Sohel filed a case with Patenga Thana.
The police promptly rescued Saima Akhter and, later, the victim’s father filed an abduction case against the accused. On September 30, 2018, police submitted a charge sheet against five accused, and charges were framed by the court on October 22, 2020.
The court examined five out of eleven prosecution witnesses during the trial and delivered the verdict in the absence of the accused.