Second Wife Sentenced to Life for Husband’s 2019 Murder

A woman has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of her husband in Mymensingh city in 2019, bringing a six-year-old homicide case to a close with one conviction and one acquittal.

The court also fined the convicted woman, Afroza Sheikh Iti, Tk 50,000. If she fails to pay the fine, she will have to serve an additional six months in rigorous imprisonment.

The verdict was delivered on Wednesday afternoon, 29 July, by Farhana Ferdous, judge of the Special Sessions Court in Mymensingh. Lawyers involved in the case and court officials were present when the judgment was announced.

According to case records and statements from those familiar with the proceedings, the victim, Shafiqul Islam Shapu, was previously married to Mahmuda Akter Jhumur. The couple lived in the Banshbari Colony area of Mymensingh city and had a son.

At a later stage, Shafiqul became involved in a romantic relationship with Afroza Sheikh Iti, a resident of the Habun Bepari Mor area of the city. The two eventually married. Following the second marriage, however, Shafiqul continued to maintain contact with his first wife and their child.

The case proceedings stated that this became a source of repeated disputes between Shafiqul and Iti. According to the prosecution’s account, Iti was unable to accept her husband’s continued communication with his first wife and son, leading to tensions within the marriage.

The prosecution alleged that on the evening of 10 June 2019, Iti deliberately strangled Shafiqul to death. His body was then allegedly concealed beneath water hyacinths in a stagnant pond in front of a house near Habun Bepari Mor.

For several days after his disappearance, Shafiqul’s whereabouts remained unknown. On 13 June, local residents reportedly noticed what appeared to be a human hand among the water hyacinths covering the pond. They informed the police, who arrived at the scene and recovered Shafiqul’s body from the water.

The discovery caused considerable concern in the area and prompted a police investigation into the circumstances surrounding the man’s disappearance and death.

On the same day, Shafiqul’s mother, Nurunnahar, filed a murder case with Kotwali Police Station in Mymensingh. Afroza Sheikh Iti and her brother, Din Islam, were named as accused in the case.

Following the investigation, police submitted a charge sheet to the court. The judicial process subsequently involved the examination of witnesses and the presentation of arguments by both the prosecution and defence. After reviewing the evidence and hearing the arguments, the court reserved the case for judgment.

In its verdict, the court found Afroza Sheikh Iti guilty of murdering Shafiqul and sentenced her to life imprisonment. The court also imposed the Tk 50,000 fine, with a further six months of rigorous imprisonment in default of payment.

However, the court acquitted co-accused Din Islam after finding that the allegations against him had not been proved. The judgment therefore resulted in a conviction for one accused and an acquittal for the other.

The case had attracted attention in the locality following the recovery of Shafiqul’s body from the pond several days after his disappearance. The subsequent investigation and court proceedings continued for years before the verdict was finally delivered, bringing judicial resolution to a case that began with the 2019 killing.