Death penalty for teenager who abducted and murdered schoolgirl

A special tribunal in Tangail has sentenced a young man to death for the abduction and brutal murder of a nine-year-old primary school student. The verdict was delivered on Wednesday afternoon by Judge A.N.M. Elias of the Tangail Prevention of Woman and Child Repression Tribunal.

The convict, identified as 21-year-old Sabbir Miah, is the son of Anwar Hossain, residing in Dariapur village under Sakhipur upazila. The court handed down the maximum penalty in the presence of the accused, culminating a legal process that gripped the local community for nearly three years.

A horrific crime in broad daylight

According to Advocate Mohammad Omrao Khan Dipu, the Special Public Prosecutor of the tribunal, the victim was Samia Akter, a third-grade student at Dariapur North Government Primary School and the daughter of Ronju Miah. The harrowing sequence of events began on the morning of 6 September 2023. Samia was walking home after attending her morning private tutoring session when Sabbir intercepted her.

He forcibly abducted the young girl and dragged her into a nearby forest. Realising the danger, Samia fought desperately to break free from her captor. In response to her resistance, Sabbir strangled her to death. To conceal the heinous crime, he dragged her lifeless body to a nearby paddy field and buried it beneath the mud of an irrigation drain.

Ransom demands and swift police action

Having hidden the body, Sabbir attempted to profit from the abduction. Concealing his true identity, he created an account on the instant messaging application imo and sent voice messages to Samia’s father, demanding a ransom of five lakh taka for her safe return. Stricken with panic, Ronju Miah lodged a formal complaint with the Sakhipur Police Station the following day, on 7 September.

The investigation took a tragic turn on 8 September, when law enforcement officers discovered Samia’s body submerged in the mud of the designated paddy field. Using advanced cyber-surveillance and digital forensics to trace the digital footprint of the ransom messages, police successfully tracked down and arrested Sabbir on 28 September 2023.

Following his arrest, Sabbir made a full confession before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, detailing how he executed the kidnapping and murder. Investigating officers completed their probe within months, formally submitting a charge sheet to the court on 11 February 2024.

Comprehensive judicial sentencing

The tribunal found Sabbir guilty on multiple counts, reflecting the multi-layered cruelty of his actions. The comprehensive sentencing structure handed down by the judge is detailed below:

• Murder Charges: The convict was sentenced to death by hanging alongside a financial penalty of 30,000 taka.

• Abduction: For the initial kidnapping of the minor, Sabbir received 15 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of 20,000 taka.

• Extortion and Confinement: For detaining a child with the explicit intent of extracting a ransom, the court imposed a sentence of life imprisonment under rigorous conditions, accompanied by a 30,000 taka fine.

• Destruction of Evidence: Evidence presented during the trial proved that Sabbir attempted to destroy vital clues, including using kerosene to burn the victim’s belongings and hiding her remains. For this, he was sentenced to an additional five years of rigorous imprisonment and fined 10,000 taka.

The state appointed Advocate Mohammad Nazim Uddin to manage the case for the accused as state defence counsel. Following the reading of the verdict, Sabbir was transported under heavy security to the Tangail District Jail, where he will await the execution of his sentence.