Husband sentenced to death seven years after strangling wife over dowry in Keraniganj

A court has sentenced Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, also known as Mizan Hossain, to death for strangling his wife to death over a dowry demand. The verdict came on Sunday, seven years after the killing at a rented house in Char Mirerbag in Dhaka's South Keraniganj.

Judge Munshi Md Moshiar Rahman of Dhaka's Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-4 delivered the verdict on Sunday. Alongside the death sentence, the convict was also fined Tk 100,000.

Mizan was produced before the tribunal from jail ahead of the verdict. After the sentence was announced, he was sent back to prison under a conviction warrant.

State prosecutor Ershadul Alam George confirmed the verdict, saying Mizan was sentenced to death for strangling his wife Rehana to death in 2019 over a dowry demand.

In its verdict, the tribunal said the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt the charges that the accused had demanded dowry and, when he did not get it, strangled his wife to death.

The court also noted that the accused had admitted responsibility for the killing in a confessional statement. With the charges proved, it handed down the maximum punishment, the death penalty.

The sentence will not be carried out immediately, however. The verdict states that approval from the High Court must be obtained before the death sentence can be executed, and the convict may appeal against the verdict if he wishes.

Mizan is the son of Md Shamsul Islam and Rosna Begum of Purba Madraj Khan Bari under Charfashion police station in Bhola. He had been living with his wife in a rented house in the Char Mirerbag area of South Keraniganj.

According to the case allegations, before 7am on 25 July 2019, Mizan strangled Rehana to death by squeezing her throat at that rented house.

The first information report says that about 20 days before the incident, Mizan had demanded Tk 50,000 in dowry from his wife. He used to physically torture her at various times over the demand. At one point Tk 2,000 was sent through Rehana's brother Bikash, but the torture did not stop and continued.

After the killing, Rehana's brother Abbas filed a murder case with South Keraniganj police station as the complainant. Following investigation, police submitted a charge sheet against Mizanur Rahman to the court.

During the trial, the tribunal recorded the testimony of 10 witnesses. After a long trial process, the verdict was delivered on Sunday on the basis of the evidence and the accused's confession. The case now awaits the High Court approval process and any possible appeal.