A Chittagong court has awarded death penalty to a person on charges of killing a housewife after violating her in the district’s Banshkhali upazila in 1999.
The judge of Woman and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-1, Md Rezaul Karim, pronounced the verdict in absentia of the accused on Wednesday morning.
The convict, Abdur Rahim, son of Golam Sobhan, of Pashchim Sadhanpur of Banshkhali, is still on the run.
Public Prosecutor (PP) Jesmin Akhter of the tribunal said that the court passed the order after testifying nine witnesses out of 14 under section 9/6(2) of Woman and Children Repression Prevention Special Act-1995.
The charges against the accused were proved beyond any doubt, said the court while delivering the verdict.
According to the case documents, there was a good social relation between the families of Rahim and Nurunnahar. On March 24 in 1999, Rahim took the victim outside from her father's residence, alluring her by the notion of travelling.
When they reached a nearby jungle, Rahim forcefully took her inside, raped and stabbed her to death.
Later, it was found that Rahim had already fled the area when police recovered the dead body from the jungle on the following day.
Mother of the victim, Sufia Begum, lodged a case with Banshkhali police station accusing unidentified person.
Police on November 4, 1999, submitted the charge sheet against Rahim after an investigation while the court framed charges against him on March 25, 2001.