HC withdraws death sentence after convict's death
The accused had died in Kashimpur jail nearly five years before the High Court upheld his death sentence in a rape-murder case involving a child in Sherpur.
The High Court has withdrawn its recent judgment upholding the death sentence of Kanti Marak, an accused in a rape and murder case involving a child in Sherpur, after it was informed that he had died in prison nearly five years before the judgment.
The court also declared the proceedings in the case closed following his death.
A special High Court bench comprising Justice Bhishmadev Chakraborty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja passed the order today (12 August), withdrawing its earlier judgment and bringing the death reference and appeal proceedings to an end.
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On 1 July, the same bench had upheld the death sentence handed down to Kanti Marak by a trial court after hearing the appeal and death reference for two days.
Kanti Marak was the sole accused in the case and had died at Kashimpur Jail in Gazipur on 16 January 2021, according to prison authorities.
State counsel Imam Hossain Tarek told the media that after receiving an official death certificate, the prosecution applied to the High Court to withdraw the unsigned judgment and close the proceedings.
"The court was initially unaware of Kanti Marak's death and therefore upheld his death sentence. After the official information about his death was brought to the court's attention, the earlier judgment was withdrawn and the proceedings were declared closed," he said.
According to case documents, the child, a resident of Nalitabari upazila in Sherpur, was allegedly raped and killed on 30 March 2013.
The girl had been missing since the afternoon that day. During a search, a bloodstained pair of shorts was found on the floor of Kanti Marak's neighbour's house. Her body was later recovered from a drainage canal beside the accused's residence.
The child's grandfather filed a case with Nalitabari Police Station under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, accusing Kanti Marak of rape and murder.
After his arrest, Kanti Marak also reportedly gave a confessional statement before the court.
Following trial, a lower court sentenced him to death in 2019. The case was sent to the High Court the same year as a death reference for approval of the sentence.
Kashimpur jail authorities informed the relevant authorities that Kanti Marak had died on 16 January 2021.
