A court in Kishoreganj has sentenced seven people, including a father and his two sons, to life imprisonment for beating a housewife to death over a dispute involving cooking smoke in Karimganj upazila.
Additional District and Sessions Judge-1 Mohammad Zahir Uddin of the Kishoreganj District and Sessions Judge's Court pronounced the verdict on Tuesday morning. The court also fined each convict Tk 1 lakh.
The convicts are Manzil Mia, 65, his two sons Robi, 37, and Aminul, 30, Shahid, 55, Mahbub, 35, Ziauddin, 55, and Shahabuddin, 60.
According to the case statement, the victim, Jyotsna Begum, and the accused lived in neighbouring houses within the same boundary in Jatiapara village of Gujadia Union in Karimganj upazila.
A dispute developed after smoke from Jyotsna's cooking stove entered the house of her neighbour, Koli Akter. Despite requests to relocate the stove, the issue remained unresolved.
On February 16, 2016, an argument over the matter escalated into violence. The accused allegedly dragged Jyotsna out of her house and beat her with iron rods, wooden beams, sticks and tree branches.
When her sister-in-law, Ayesha Akter, tried to save her, she was also injured in a machete attack.
Local residents rescued the victims and took them to Karimganj Upazila Health Complex. As Jyotsna's condition deteriorated, she was transferred to Kishoreganj Modern Sadar Hospital, where she died later that night while undergoing treatment.
Following the incident, her husband, Habibur Rahman, filed a case.
After a lengthy judicial process, the court found all seven accused guilty and handed down life sentences along with the financial penalties.
All the convicts were present in court when the verdict was delivered, said Public Prosecutor Advocate Md Mizanur Rahman.
