Photo: BSS

JHENAIDAH, June 22, 2026 (BSS) - A court here today sentenced a man to death in the sensational case of rape and murder of child Tabassum in Kaliganj upazila of the district this year.

Judge Salehuzzaman of the Jhenaidah Child Violence Prevention Tribunal announced the verdict in the much-discussed case at 11.30. The convict is Abu Taher, 33, son of Moslem Uddin of Badedihi village in Kaliganj upazila of the district.

According to prosecution, in the morning of February 26, 2026 convict Abu Taher took 4-year-old Tabassum to his house, tempting her to buy chips and juice. There, the child was brutally raped. At one point, when the child screamed in pain, Abu Taher covered her mouth and nose with his clothe. Tabassum died of suffocation within a short time. 

Later, to cover up the incident, Taher stuffed the child's body in a sack that night and hid it inside the septic tank of the nearby Abdul Jabbar Secondary School. 

On February 26, Nazrul Islam, the father of Tabassum, filed a case against Abu Taher at Kaliganj Police Station, alleging murder after rape.

Immediately after the case, he was arrested that night from a rented house in Kushtia town in a police raid. After the arrest, the accused Abu Taher confessed to his crime to the police and later gave a statement to the court under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The investigation officer of the case officer-in-charge (OC) of Kaliganj Police Station Jellal Hossain submitted the charge sheet to the court on May 26. After that, the arguments ended on Sunday (yesterday) after the testimony of 16 witnesses in the case was recorded. 

Public prosecutor of the case Advocate Akidul Islam said, "We have been able to present all the evidence of the crime against the accused and the testimony of 16 witnesses accurately in the court. The court has given us the expected verdict."