Murdered Dhangethi businessman’s family demands death penalty for assailant

Family of the murdered businessman from ADh. Dhangethi has demanded the death penalty for the Bangladeshi migrant worker, Sha Alom Mia (Salim), 29, who was found guilty of the murder.  

Local businessman Mahmood Aboobakr, 57, was found murdered and thrown into a water well in an abandoned house in Dhangethi on the afternoon of October 14, 2021, hours after he was reported missing.  

Police arrested Salim in connection to the murder on October 16, 2021.

Salim, who worked as a live-in caregiver for an elderly man by the name of Aadhanbe at Nedhunge – a house close to where Mahmood’s body was found, was charged with murder with intent and abuse of a corpse in connection to the case in December of last year.

The charges against Salim read that he killed Mahmood by attacking his chest and neck using a knife and two metal rods with sharpened ends. He then stuffed Mahmood’s head and legs into sacks and threw the body over the wall and onto the street, and then carried the body and dropped it head-first into the water well located in the abandoned house at the back of his house.

During the trial, Salim pled guilty to the charges against him.

At a hearing of the case held at the Criminal Court today, testimonies were taken from Mahmood’s heirs – during which all the heirs had asked for the death penalty. Subsequently, the sentencing hearing now pends.

Prior to this, Salim had asked for a plea deal with the State, in order to secure a lighter sentence. However, State Prosecutors highlighted that Mahmood’s heirs wished to ask the court for the death penalty. Therefore, the State rejected his request for a plea deal. 

Despite Salim’s guilty plea, the State said it wished to proceed with the case by submitting evidence as it involved a murder. 

Salim’s attorney responded that the Criminal Procedure Code was clear on the procedure if a defendant pleads guilty.  The attorney detailed that the case should proceed as that of a fast-tracked trial.

Criminal Court’s Chief Judge Ahmed Shakeel, who presided over the case, also affirmed that the case will be proceeding as a fast-tracked trial.

Proceeding as aforementioned, Judge Shakeel found Salim guilty of the two charges raised against him in connection to Mahmood’s murder on January 26.