The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday commuted the sentence of a death-row prisoner to life term in jail for killing his son in Patuakhali in 2008.
The six-member virtual bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, passed the order during a hearing on a petition filed by the defendant. The court also ordered to shift the accused to general cell from the condemned cell and to avail the facilities for commutation.
State appointed lawyer Advocate Helal Uddin Molla presented the defendant side while Deputy Attorney General Bishwajit Debnath represented the state at the court.
According to the case statement, accused Shahid Rari used to live in his father-in-law’s house in Charguni village in Dashmina upazila with his family. One day he was beaten for stealing his brother-in-law’s money and following the incident he killed his son out of anger on May 23, 2008 taking him two kilometers away from the home.
The same day, Shahid Rari was arrested by police after recovering his son’s body and a case was filed in this regard.
The next day Shahid Rari gave confessional statement at the court and police submitted the charge sheet of the murder case.
On May 24, 2009, a Patuakhali court sentenced him to death and sent the death reference to the High Court for approval.
Meanwhile Shahid Rari filed a petition against the lower court’s hearing.
On June 18, 2014, the High Court upheld the death penalty during a hearing on the both petitions.
Later, Shahid Rari again filed a petition with the Appellate Division challenging the high Court’s order.
On Monday another death row prisoner, Swapan Kumar Biswas, had his sentence commuted to life in prison.