Over the past 15 years, Bangladesh has witnessed a streak of gruesome murders. According to legal experts, a culture of impunity and extreme stagnation in judicial processes are the primary driving forces behind this cycle of violence.
From the murder of Biswajit Das in 2012 to the recent killing of scrap dealer Lal Chand, many controversial homicide cases are still awaiting a final verdict.
On July 9, scrap dealer Lal Chand, also known as Sohag, was beaten to death by a group of men near Mitford Hospital in Dhaka. His head was crushed with bricks and stones and he was stripped naked. If that was not enough, the attackers were seen jumping on his listless body.
Numerous shocking murders in the past decade remain either unresolved or incomplete. In many cases, the accused have fled, and crucial evidence remains uncollected.
Even when lower courts deliver verdicts swiftly, cases often stall for years in the High Court or Supreme Court.
In some instances, verdicts never come to fruition. For example, despite the High Court maintaining the death sentences for 20 individuals in the 2019 murder of BUET student Abrar Fahad, none have been executed to date.
Gruesome murders continue
The night before Eid-ul-Fitr in 2011, six school and college students went on an outing to the Aminbazar area on the outskirts of Dhaka. Mistaking them for robbers, a group of locals beat them to death.
By dawn, six mutilated bodies were found. In the case that ensued, the lower court sentenced 13 people to death and 19 to life imprisonment.
However, the verdict remains pending in the higher court to this day.
In 2012, Biswajit Das, a tailor, was hacked to death by members of the Chhatra League in front of the court building in Old Dhaka. His murder was justified by branding him as a 'Shibir activist'.
The incident triggered widespread outrage and criticism as the footage of the event went viral. Eight people were sentenced to death, and 13 others to life imprisonment over the controversy. However, most of the convicts remain at large.
In 2013, a central leader of the Jubo League, Riazul Islam Milky, was shot dead in Gulshan. While the main accused was killed in a RAB crossfire, the other accused are either out on bail or have fled abroad, according to court documents.
The collection of witness testimony has also remained halted for many years since.
On June 26, 2019, Rifat Sharif was hacked to death in front of Barguna Government College in front of his wife.
When the video of the murder went viral on social media, it sparked widespread outrage.
Later, the main accused, Noyon Bond, was killed in a so-called 'gunfight' with police.
In the video footage, Rifat's wife, Ayesha Siddika Minni, appeared to be trying to stop the attackers.
However, the investigation later revealed that she was also involved in the murder.
After that, although a lower court sentenced Minni to death, the case is still pending in the Appellate Division. Most of the other accused are currently out on bail.
That same year, Abrar Fahad was beaten to death by members of the Chhatra League at the Sher-e-Bangla Hall of BUET. He was brutally tortured for nearly six hours.
Although the court sentenced 20 individuals to death, the verdict has not been carried out yet.
In 2024, an electrician named Tofazzal Hossain was beaten to death on suspicion of theft at Fazlul Haque Muslim Hall of Dhaka University. In this case, the police submitted a charge sheet, and the investigation was later handed over to the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI).
The court ordered six students to be sent to jail in connection with the incident.
In January of this year, businessman Ehteshamul Haque was brutally attacked and hacked by a group of assailants in front of the Multiplan Centre on Elephant Road in Dhaka.
Although two suspects were arrested, there has been no significant progress in the case.
A few weeks later, on January 23, businessman Sajal Rajbongshi was shot dead in broad daylight in the Beribadh area of Kamrangirchar, Dhaka. Around 70 bhori (each bhori is 11.66 grammes) of gold jewellery was looted.
The police have yet to file a charge sheet in the case.
Recently, in Khulnapur, Khulna, young businessman Arnab Kumar Sarkar was shot dead in public. Although nine suspects have been arrested, the investigation has seen no notable progress, and police have yet to determine a motive for the murder.
The reason behind these recurring killings
Legal scholars and human rights defenders argue that the absence of justice, political interference, and the sluggish legal system are at the heart of these recurring crimes.
Professor Anisur Rahman of the Independent University's law department said, "When a case drags on for over a decade, it sends a signal to criminals that they can get away with it. Once that belief takes root, it becomes nearly impossible to control crime in society."
Mabrouk Mohammad, an adviser to the human rights organisation Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), believes that the core problem is not simply the absence of justice following a crime, but rather the excessive delay and complexity of the judicial process, which compels people to lose faith in pursuing justice in the first place.
"The criminal justice system in Bangladesh is so slow and complicated that most people do not even expect justice. A trial may begin after a year or two, but it takes 8 to 10 years to reach a verdict. During this time, witnesses are lost, evidence is destroyed, and the victim's family is disappointed," he explains.
"Even when lower courts deliver verdicts swiftly, those cases often remain stalled for years in the High Court or Supreme Court. In some instances, verdicts are handed down but never enforced. For example, although the High Court upheld the death sentences of 20 individuals in the Abrar Fahad murder case, not a single sentence has been carried out yet.
"As a result, even high-profile cases that seem to be swiftly tried ultimately lead to no visible outcome in the public's eyes – and gradually vanish from public discourse."
Crime analyst Syed Mahfuzul Haque connects this recurring trend to a failure of the state itself. He said, "This is not just about crime; it is a failure of the state. In a country where a person can be beaten to death in public and no one protests, people lose faith that the rule of law exists. And that loss of faith gives way to the next crime, as people no longer expect justice anymore."
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