Renu’s mob killing: 1 sentenced to death, 4 life imprisonment
A Dhaka court has sentenced one person to death and four others to life imprisonment for the mob lynching of Taslima Begum Renu, who was brutally beaten to death in Badda five years ago on suspicion of being a child abductor.
Judge Mohammad Morshed Alam of Dhaka's Sixth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court delivered the verdict today (9 October), sentencing Ibrahim alias Hridoy Molla to death.
Ria Begum, Abul Kalam Azad, Kamal Hossain, and Asadul Islam were sentenced to life imprisonment.
The court also imposed a fine of Tk1 lakh on each of the convicted individuals. If they fail to pay, they will have to serve an additional year in prison.
Renu, 40, a single mother of two, was killed by a mob in front of North Badda Government Primary School on the morning of 20 July 2019, after being falsely accused of being a child abductor. She had gone to the school to inquire about the admission process for her four-year-old daughter, Tahsin Tuba.
Following the incident, the police arrested several individuals after reviewing video footage of the mob attack.
Ria Khatun, 35, was among those arrested for instigating the attack by accusing Renu of being a child abductor. Ibrahim Hossain Hridoy was seen in the footage actively participating in the beating, even continuing to strike Renu's seemingly lifeless body.
Renu's nephew, Syed Nasir Uddin, filed a case with the Badda police station against 400-500 unidentified individuals following the incident.
Renu, originally from Raipur upazila of Lakshmipur district, was living in Mohakhali, Dhaka, with her two children at the time of the incident. She had been divorced from her husband two years earlier.