Woman gets life for killing 3-year-old girl in Jhenaidah

A Jhenaidah court yesterday sentenced a woman to life imprisonment in the murder case of three-and-a-half-year-old Saima Akter Saba.

Judge Md Helal Uddin of the Jhenaidah Additional District and Sessions Judge’s Court-1 pronounced the verdict in presence of the convict, Shantana Khatun, 31, confirmed Additional Public Prosecutor Kazi Ekramul Haque.

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Saba, daughter of van driver Saidul Islam of Pabohati village in Jhenaidah municipality, was killed on December 3, 2025. Shantana was their neighbour.

According to the case statement and court sources, Saba went missing while playing near her home that morning. Her father later filed a general diary with Jhenaidah Sadar Police Station.

Police recovered her body from Masum’s house around 9:30pm that day and detained Shantana for questioning.

Saidul subsequently filed a murder case, and Shantana was later shown arrested.

Quoting Shantana’s statement, police said that Saba got into a fight with her son Abu Zubayer while they were playing. At one point, Shantana hit Saba on the head, killing her. She then allegedly hid the body inside the house.

Then sub-inspector Manoj Kumar Ghosh, the investigating officer, submitted the charge sheet on December 30. A total of 27 witnesses testified during the trial.

Reacting to the verdict, Saba’s father told The Daily Star, “I expected the highest punishment for the accused for killing my little daughter. We are not happy with the verdict. We will appeal against the verdict in the higher court.”

Additional public prosecutor Kazi Ekramul Haque said the court found Shantana guilty after reviewing the evidence and witness statements. “We will discuss with the victim’s family and decide whether to appeal seeking the highest punishment for the accused,” he said.

Defence lawyer AM Sohanur Zoarddar Sathi said Shantana had not confessed to the murder and that there was no eyewitness.

“She claimed that Saba fell accidentally while playing with her son and stopped breathing. Fearing a mob attack, she hid the body under a bed, but she did not kill the child,” he said.

The lawyer said they would also appeal against the sentence.