Man sentenced to death for attempt to rape, murder of 4-yr girl in Sylhet
Habib Sarwar Azad, Sylhet
A Sylhet court has sentenced a man to death for the attempted rape and murder of a four-year-old girl, Fahima Akhter, in May.
Judge Abu Obaida of the Sylhet Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal delivered the verdict on Thursday, exactly three months after the murder. The court also fined the convicted killer, Zakir Hossain, Tk 5 lakh.
However, the court acquitted Zakir's two brothers, Joynal Ahmed and Abul Kalam, of all charges.
According to case details, four-year-old Fahima, daughter of impoverished day laborer Raisul Haq from Sonatola village under Kandigaon union in Sylhet Sadar upazila, went missing from her home on May 6. Two days later, on the night of May 8, police recovered her body from a ditch near her home.
Police arrested her 30-year-old neighbor and uncle-figure, Zakir Hossain, on the night of May 11. Following his arrest, Zakir gave a horrifying confession before the police and later under section 164 before a magistrate.
In his confession, Zakir stated that he lured Fahima by asking her to fetch cigarettes from a shop. Taking advantage of an empty house upon her return, he attempted to rape her. When Fahima lost consciousness, he strangled her to death. He subsequently attempted to conceal the body before dumping it in a ditch near a pond close to his house.
Investigators fast-tracked the case, submitting a charge sheet to the court accusing Zakir of attempted rape and murder, and his two brothers of assisting in concealing the body, just one month and five days after the incident.
