SHARIATPUR, Jan 16, 2024 (BSS) - A court here today sentenced five persons to death for killing a woman after gang rape in Damudya upazila of the district in 2019.

Judge of Shariatpur Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunals Md Sohel Ahmed pronounced the verdict this afternoon.

The condemned convicts are - Nizam Bali, 45, Mohammad Ali, 35, Omar Faruk Bepari, 24, Al Amin Bepari, 20, and Ibrahim Molla, 21, residents of Dakshin Shitalakathi area under Damudya upazila of the district.

The court also fined them Taka 1,00,000 each.

Two of them were present in the court. They were sent to the district jail on the order of the court. Three more accused are absconding.

According to the case statement, the victim Feroza Begum, 55, hailed from Bhuiyan Bazar area under Dhankathi union of Damudya upazila, disappeared from her home on April 18, 2019 around 5 pm. On April 21, police recovered her body from an abandoned pond in Baro Naogaon area, 10 kilometers from her house.

The day after the incident, the victim's younger brother Lal Miah Sardar filed a murder case in the Shariatpur court naming 13 people and 2/3 others as unknown accused.

Police submitted a charge sheet against five of them. The rest of the accused were acquitted from the charges.

After examining the record and witnesses, the court found them guilty.

Public Prosecutor (PP) Advocate Feroz Ahmed confirmed the matter.