A Natore court on Tuesday sentenced a man to life term imprisonment for killing his wife for dowry, three months after getting married in 2017.

The convict Rubel Hossain was a resident of Shibpur village in Boraigram upazila.

Natore Women and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Mohammad Imdadul Haque delivered the verdict.

It also fined Tk 1 lakh to the convict and asked to provide the money to the parents of victim Fatema Khatun as compensation.

According to the prosecution, Rubel had married Fatema of Sirajganj district on June 27, 2017. Rubel used to torture Fatema for Tk 2 lakh dowry.

On September 26, 2017, Rubel had a quarrel with Fatem over the issue and killed her after failing to realise the money.

Aklima, sister of the victim, filed a case at Boraigram Police Station. Rubel was arrested after the case was filed.

Read Also: Man to die for killing wife in Barishal

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday said the duration of life term imprisonment will be considered as 30 years from now on.

But, if any court delivered its judgment mentioning ‘life term imprisonment unto death’ in its verdict, then it will be followed by the court verdict.

A seven-member bench, led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, passed the order in the morning after disposing of a review petition.

The bench said: "The Criminal Review Petition No 82 of 2017 is disposed of by Majority with the following short order – imprisonment for life prima facie means the whole of the remaining period of the convict's natural life.

"Imprisonment for life be deemed equivalent to imprisonment for 30 years if sections 45 and 53 are read together along with sections 55 and 57 of the Penal Code and 35A of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

"However, in the case of sentence awarded to the convict for imprisonment for life till his natural death by the court/tribunal, International Crimes Tribunal under International Crimes Tribunals Act, 1973, the convict will not be entitled to get the benefit of section 35A of the Code of Criminal Procedure."

Attorney General AM Amin Uddin stood for the state while Advocate Khandakar Mahbub Hossain represented the petitioner.

Advocate Sishir Monir said that according to the Code of Criminal Procedure, life term imprisonment will be counted as 30 years and if any court delivered its judgment mentioning life term imprisonment until death, then the accused will not get any benefit from the order.

On November 24, the Appellate Division fixed December 1 for delivering its verdict on the review petition filed against its interpretation of a convict's life imprisonment tenure.

The Appellate Division on July 11 concluded hearing on an appeal seeking review on ‘life term means until death’ and kept it in CAV (curia advisari vult, which means reserving the verdict for a later time).

Besides, senior lawyer Rokanuddin Mahmud, AF Hassan Arif, Abdur Razzak Khan, and AM Amin Uddin expressed their opinion regarding the matter as they were appointed as Amicus Curiae (legal opinion provider in court) over the matter.

On October 15, 2003, the subordinate court sentenced two siblings - Ataur Mridha alias Ataur and Anowar Hossain – to death in a murder case. Later, the High Court also upheld their death sentence on October 30, 2007.

On February 14, 2017, the Appellate Division commuted their death sentence to life term imprisonment when the convicts challenged the High Court verdict.

Meanwhile, the Appellate Division expressed a seven-point opinion stating that ‘life term imprisonment means sentence until death’.

Later, Amicus Curiae were appointed to hear the opinion of senior advocates over the matter when the review appeal was filed by the convicts.

Normally, as per the Bangladeshi law, convicted offenders of life term imprisonment have to serve in jail for 30 years.

Read Also: Hearing on review of ‘life term means until death’ concludes

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs started its "Bangabandhu Lecture Series" on Tuesday morning, marking the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Former Finance Minister and freedom fighter AMA Muhith is delivering the keynote at the inaugural lecture on the first day of the month of Victory focusing on life and legacy of Bangabandhu.

The event is being held at the newly-built Foreign Service Academy at State guesthouse Sugandha.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen connected with it virtually from his residence and said, "Today, we have started a historic event in the month of Victory."

After the Independence of Bangladesh, Sugandha became Gonobhaban housing the first Prime Minister Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from 1972 to 1974.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated Bangabandhu Centre for Diplomatic Strategy and Research.

The Foreign Minister said Bangladesh is today a vibrant economy and a land of opportunity.

"We have to engage ourselves to achieve our goals in 2021, 2030 and 2041 and build a Sonar Bangla," Dr Momen said.

He said Bangladesh would like to tell its stories across the world.

The Foreign Minister said peace is essential for development and said what is happening in Myanmar must stop.

Prime Minister's International Affairs Adviser Dr Gowher Rizvi is attending it as a special discussant.

Diplomats from home and abroad, intellectuals, senior officials from public and private sectors are also connected with the event both in person and virtually.

There will be questions and answers session after the delivery of keynote speech.

The Lecture Series will continue till Mujib Borsho and 50 years celebrations of Independence, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Nobel laureate and Indian economist Amartya Kumar Sen will deliver keynote speech at the second lecture in January.

Prof Rehman Sobhan is expected to join too at that time.

At least one lecture will be delivered each month.

The Lecture Series will be held at Bangladesh Missions abroad too.

Read Also: MoFA's "Bangabandhu Lecture Series" kicks off Tuesday with Muhith

Faruk Imrul Kayesh, the chairman of Aditmari Upazila, was suspended as the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) brought allegations against him including verbally abusing the UNO.

The LGRD Ministry issued a notification in this regard on Monday.

According to the notification, the punitive action was taken following the written complaint against Faruk by 18 officials, including Aditmari UNO Muhammad Mansur Uddin.

Six allegations including verbal abuse, misbehaviour and threat were brought against the chairman.

On November 12, Faruk demanded his share from the VGD and maternal allowance at a coordination meeting with UNO Mansur.

As the UNO refused to do this, Faruk left the meeting. Later, he along with his associates swooped on UNO office and tried to remove the close-circuit camera.

Being obstructed, Faruk then abused the UNO verbally and threatened to assault him. He also misbehaved with the UNO.

Later, the UNO and 17 other officials of the UNO office sent a written complaint to the deputy commissioner seeking action against Chairman Faruk.

On November 24, Abdul Wahab Bhuiya, divisional commissioner of Rangpur, visited the spot as a representative of the Ministry.

However, UNO Mansur also lodged a general diary at Aditmari Police Station seeking security for himself and his family.

Additional police have been deployed in and around the Upazila Parishad premises after the incident.

Read Also: Relief embezzlement: 2 UP chairmen, member suspended

Confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide have exceeded 63.1 million with over 1.4 million fatalities on Tuesday, according to the latest tally of Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

According to the data, 63,192,543 people were found infected with Covid-19 while the death toll from the virus climbed to 1,467,174 as of Tuesday morning.

The US, the worst-hit country, has recorded 13,536,217 cases while the deaths of 268,016 people were reported since the start of the pandemic.

The country on average is seeing more than 160,000 new cases per day and over 1,400 deaths — a toll on par with what the nation witnessed in mid-May, when New York City was the epicentre, reports AP.

Meanwhile, Brazil's hardest-hit area Sao Paulo reimposed some pandemic lockdown measures on Monday to halt the resurging infection and hospitalisation rates.

The move is aimed at improving "control of the pandemic," Sao Paulo State Governor Joao Doria said in his announcement.

Brazil has the world's second-highest COVID-19 death toll and the third-largest caseload. Its case number reached 6,335,878 on Tuesday.

India's COVID-19 tally reached 9,431,691 as 38,772 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours till Tuesday morning, according to the latest data from the health ministry.

According to it, the death toll mounted to 137,139 as 443 patients died during this period.

The countries with cases above one million are Russia with 2,275, 936, France with 2,275,016, Spain with 1,648, 187, UK with 1,633,733, and Italy with 1,601,554.

COVID-19 has hit 191 countries since the first cases were reported in China in December last year.

Situation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh saw a spike in daily COVID-19 deaths on Monday as health authorities recorded 35 more deaths in 24 hours, raising the fatalities to 6,644.

Besides, the health authorities detected 2,525 new cases across the country during the period, taking the total to 464,932.

The death rate stood at 1.43 percent, said the Directorate General of Health Services.

So far, 380,711 patients – 81.89 percent -- including 2,539  new ones in the last 24 hours have recovered.

Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8. The infection number reached the 300,000-mark on August 26. The first death was reported on March 18 and the death toll exceeded 6,000 on November 4.

Read Also: Global Covid-19 cases top 62.6 million