A court in Cumilla has sentenced a woman to life imprisonment and her lover to death over the 2023 killing of seven-year-old Simon in Titas upazila.
The verdict was delivered on Wednesday by Judge Sabbir Mahmud Chowdhury of the Cumilla Fourth Additional District and Sessions Judge’s Court. Both convicts, Shefali Begum and Billal Pathan, were present in the dock during the ruling and were later sent to prison with conviction warrants.
According to the prosecution, Billal was handed the death penalty along with a fine of Tk 100,000, while Shefali received life imprisonment with the same amount in fines.
In addition, both were sentenced to five years in jail and fined Tk 50,000 each under another charge of concealing the victim’s body.
Case records state that on August 16, 2023, Simon went to Batakandi Bazar in Titas with his mother.
He disappeared on the way home after buying a soft drink. His family filed a general diary at Titas police station on August 18, and the following morning his half-burnt, decomposed body was recovered from a bush in a nearby field.
Simon’s mother, Khorsheda Akter, later filed a murder case, naming Shefali Begum and several unidentified suspects. Investigators subsequently identified Billal Pathan as Shefali’s lover and arrested both.
Police investigation revealed that Simon had witnessed Shefali and Billal’s illicit relationship. To silence him, they strangled the boy to death and set his body on fire to destroy evidence, said prosecution lawyer Md Ikram Hossain.
After hearing testimonies from 15 witnesses, the court found the two guilty and handed down the verdict.
Reacting to the judgment, Simon’s mother expressed relief and said: “I am satisfied with the court’s verdict. I urge the state to ensure the punishment of my son’s killers is executed swiftly.”
