A court in Bhola has sentenced two men to life imprisonment in the murder case of teenager Redowan Russel, who was choked to death for refusing to sell a mobile phone. The prosecution expressed satisfaction with the verdict.
On Thursday afternoon, District and Sessions Judge Sharif AM Reza Jaker delivered the judgment at the Bhola District and Sessions Judge Court.
The convicts were identified as Md Sujon of Pangashia village in Paschim Ilisha Union under Sadar Upazila, and his maternal uncle Md Ilias.
According to the court, the case statement, and the victim’s family, the incident took place on 28 December 2007 at approximately 7pm, whilst teenager Redowan Russel was at his father’s grocery shop in Hawlader Bazar.
He was carrying a Nokia 1100 mobile phone purchased by his mother. Neighbour Sujon called Redowan away from the shop on the pretext of speaking on the phone, after which Redowan went missing.
The family initially assumed Redowan had gone to nearby relatives’ houses, as he frequently did. However, when he failed to return from any relatives’ homes, family members conducted searches in various places the next day.
On 30 December, locals informed the family that a teenager’s body had been discovered in front of Siddique Mal’s house beside Darogar Khal in Dakshin Char Pata. Family members subsequently identified the body as Redowan at the government graveyard of Bhola Municipality. The case statement noted that the body bore injury marks on the face and neck.
Following the incident, Redowan’s father, Abdul Haque, filed a murder case as the plaintiff at Bhola Sadar Model Police Station on 30 December 2007. Upon completing the investigation, investigating officers submitted a chargesheet framing Sujon and Ilias as the accused.
On 23 June 2009, charges were formally framed against them. Following a lengthy judicial process, the court awarded both convicts life sentences.
Commenting on the verdict, Public Prosecutor (PP) of the Bhola District and Sessions Judge Court, Md Toyeb, said that after analysing the witness testimony and evidence, the learned court sentenced the accused to life imprisonment, delivering justice for the state.
He described the murder over a mere mobile phone as an example of social decay and a horrific, brutal killing. He added that after choking the victim to death, the accused had thrown the body into the canal to conceal it.
