Mahmood’s murder: High Court upholds Salim’s death penalty

High Court, on Thursday, has upheld the Criminal Court’s decision to impose the death penalty on Bangladeshi migrant worker, Sha Alom Mia (Salim), 29, found guilty of the murder of ADh. Dhangethi businessman.

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 was charged with murder with intent and abuse of a corpse in connection to the case in December of last year.

During the Criminal Court trial, he pled guilty to the charges against him following which the court sentenced him to death, in line with the wishes of Mahmoodh’s inheritors.

The prosecution submitted the case to the High Court, requesting the appellate court to reaffirm the death penalty.

High Court, on Thursday, upheld the Criminal Court’s decision, citing Salim had pled guilty to the charges against him on four occasions during the lower court trial and the evidence submitted against him. 

Case background

Salim 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.

He became the focus of the murder investigation after a woman reported hearing screams coming from Nedhunge at approximately 09:30 pm on October 13 – the night Mahmood went missing. She looked over the wall, and saw what looked like someone being dragged by their feet.

She alerted one of Aadhanbe’s relatives, who called Salim. Salim told the relative he killed a cat.

Police believe the murder was motivated by greed, and that Mahmood was carrying MVR 10,000 in cash in his wallet the night he went missing.

Investigative findings showed Mahmood was killed in the house where Salim lived. Salim lured Mahmood into the house and demanded money. Mahmood was killed in a dispute which arose after he refused to give money.

Salim stabbed Mahmood multiple times. Medical examiners documented 30 different wounds on his body. After killing him, Salim stuffed his head and legs into sacks. He 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.

Police, during their search of Nedhunge, found some of Mahmood’s belongings as well as articles of clothes Salim had been wearing when he committed the murder.

Police also discovered CCTV footage from the night of the murder – which shows Salim carrying a person on his shoulders between 1:30am and 3:00pm.

However, Salim had confessed to the murder before the discovery of the evidence.