A court has sentenced domestic worker Suravi Akhtar Nahid to death in the case of the murders of Afroza Begum and her domestic worker Diti in Dhanmondi, Dhaka, seven years ago.
However, Bachchu Mia, a staff member of Afroza Begum’s household, has been acquitted as the charges against him were not proven. Along with the death sentence, Suravi was also fined Tk50,000, and in default of payment, she will have to serve an additional six months in prison.
On Tuesday, Judge Tawhida Akhter of the Seventh Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court in Dhaka delivered the verdict.
Prosecutor Mahfuz Hasan confirmed this information.
Earlier, the verdict, initially scheduled for 8 February, had been postponed to 17 February.
According to case details, on the night of 1 November 2019, the bloodied bodies of Afroza Begum (65), and her domestic worker Diti (18) were recovered from the fifth floor of a Dhanmondi building.
Both had been killed by having their throats slit. Afroza lived in this apartment while her daughter Dilruba Sultana Rubi lived with her husband and children in the apartment opposite hers and one floor above.
The case was filed by her daughter on 3 November. The investigation of the case, after passing through Thana Police and DB Police, was handed over to the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI). Approximately 27 months after the incident, on 1 February 2022, investigating officer Mojibur Rahman submitted the charge sheet against the two accused.
On 11 October 2022, charges were framed against the two accused, and the trial began. During the trial, the court recorded the testimonies of 25 out of 32 witnesses.
In the case, Dilruba Sultana Ruba alleged between 4:30pm and 5:00 PM, Dilruba sent her maid to work at her mother’s flat. When Dilruba called her mother at around 6:30pm, her mother had not picked up.
Subsequently, Dilruba sent house help Riaz to her mother’s flat. Ringing the doorbell and receiving no response, Riaz pushed the door to find it open. Inside, Riaz found Afroza Begum lying on the dining room floor in a bloody state and ran back to inform Dilruba.
Dilruba rushed into the flat and saw Afroza Begum lying on the dining room floor and the bloodied body of the maid, Diti, lying in the adjacent guest room.
