Woman, three others sentenced to life in prison for killing farmer in Natore

A court in Natore has sentenced four people, including a woman, to life imprisonment for strangling a farmer to death in Baraigram Upazila.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Delwar Hossain delivered the verdict on Sunday afternoon in the presence of the suspects, Public Prosecutor Ruhul Amin Talukder Togor said.

The court also fined each of the convicts Tk 500,000. Failure to pay will result in an additional three years in prison.

The convicts are Asadul Islam, 35, of Baraigram, and residents of neighbouring Gurudaspur Upazila -- Rashid Pramanik, 42, Arifa Khatun, 30, and Jihad Ali, 34.

According to the prosecution, the victim, 40-year-old Mobarak Hossain, went out to graze cattle on Jun 15, 2020 but failed to return home by evening.

Later that night, his body was discovered in a jute field with his hands and legs tied.

A case was filed the following day, and charges were formally brought against the four suspects on Nov 29, 2020.

During initial interrogation, the suspects told investigators they had killed Mobarak over an alleged extramarital affair, the prosecutor said.