A tribunal in Cumilla on Thursday sentenced a man to death in a case filed over the rape and murder of a nine-year-old child in Cumilla in 2024.
The convict was identified as Mofizul Islam Mofu, son of the late Abdul Khalek of Khilpara village in Cumilla Sadar Dakshin Upazila.
Judge Md. Yasin Arafat of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-1 delivered the verdict after completing the trial in just 19 working days.
According to the prosecution, on April 29, 2024, Tanjim Sultana Jhumur, a third-grade student at Sonali Shishu Bidyaniketan in Kheyaish village under Galiara Union of Cumilla Sadar Dakshin Upazila, went missing while returning home from school.
When she failed to return home at the expected time, her family searched for her in every possible place. On information from local residents, they later recovered Jhumur's body from a paddy field in the Thakurbari area of the village.
Police also recovered her school bag, school uniform, and shoes from the spot.
The following day, the victim's mother, Razia Akhter, filed a case with Sadar Dakshin Police Station, naming Mofizul Islam Mofu, a resident of Khilpara village in Sadar Dakshin Upazila, as the sole accused.
Three days after the incident, members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) conducted a raid in Chandpur and arrested the accused, Mofizul Islam Mofu.
Later, Mofizul confessed to raping and killing the child before the court.