A court sentenced Md Abir, the prime accused in the widely discussed abduction and murder case of child Alina Islam Ayat in Chattogram, to death.

The court also imposed a fine of BDT 100,000 and ordered one year of rigorous imprisonment in default of payment. Abir was present in court when the verdict was delivered.

The judgment was announced on Wednesday by Judge Muhammad Ali Akkas of the Sixth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court in Chattogram.

Alina Islam Ayat, the five-year-old daughter of Sohel Rana, a resident of the Noyarhat area under the city’s EPZ Police Station, went missing on November 15, 2022, while on her way to a nearby maktab for Arabic lessons, according to case records.

The investigation later revealed that Md Abir Ali, a neighbour and acquaintance of the family, had abducted Ayat with the intention of demanding ransom. But after failing to carry out his plan, he killed the child by suffocation.

Public Prosecutor Jalal Uddin said that 33 witnesses testified in the case. In its observations, the court described the incident as premeditated, cruel, and brutal. The court handed over the maximum punishment after finding the charges proven beyond a reasonable doubt based on the accused’s confessional statement, the inquest report, post-mortem report, recovered evidence, and witness testimonies, he added.

Speaking to Bonik Barta, Sohel Rana, the father of the deceased child, said, “My daughter was brutally murdered. We’ve received justice through the court’s verdict. We demand that the High Court uphold the death sentence and that the judgment be implemented without undue delay.”