Driver sentenced to death for killing woman in Dhaka’s Badda

A Dhaka court today (29 July) sentenced a car driver to death for the murder of his employer, Afroza Sultana, at her residence in Middle Badda in 2022.

Judge Mohammad Moin Uddin Chowdhury of Dhaka's Third Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court sentenced Md Hridoy Bepari, also known as Hridoy Mia, to death and fined him Tk20,000.

Public Prosecutor Md Zahirul Islam Kaiyum said, "Through this verdict, the victim's family has received justice."

In his observations, the judge said Hridoy exploited his employer's trust by brutally murdering an innocent woman.

Calling it a "rarest of rare" case, the court said the death penalty is justified based on the motive, CCTV footage, recovered evidence, stolen valuables and forensic findings.

According to the case statement, Afroza Sultana was found with her throat slit inside her first-floor flat in Middle Badda on 13 March 2022.

Her brother, Md Al Majid, filed the murder case the following day.

Detective Branch Sub-Inspector Md Ripon Uddin submitted the charge sheet against Hridoy on 31 March 2023, and the court framed charges on 15 October, formally opening the trial.

The investigation found that Hridoy, having become addicted to online gambling and fallen into debt, killed Afroza to steal cash and gold jewellery to repay his liabilities.

Based on his information, investigators recovered the bloodstained knife used in the murder, 22.04 grams of looted gold jewellery, a bloodstained tissue, the victim's vanity bag and Tk600 buried underground.

The charge sheet cited CCTV footage, Hridoy's confession, forensic evidence, post-mortem findings and a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) DNA report as evidence of his involvement in the murder.

Hridoy later gave a confessional statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

During the trial, the court recorded testimony from 12 of the 26 prosecution witnesses.