A court has sentenced the accused Shantona Khatun to life imprisonment in the much-discussed case of the murder of Saima Akter Saba, a three-and-a-half-year-old girl, in Pobahati village in Jhenaidah town. She was also fined 20,000 taka, with a further six months in jail if the fine is not paid.
Judge Moha Helal Uddin of Jhenaidah’s first additional district and sessions judge’s court delivered the verdict on Tuesday (September 22).
According to the case record, Saima Akter Saba, the three-and-a-half-year-old daughter of Saidul Islam of Pobahati village, went missing while out playing on the morning of December 3, 2025. Her father later filed a general diary at Jhenaidah Sadar police station.
Police and local people searched various places and ponds in the area all day without finding the child. After she had been missing all day, police recovered Saba’s body at around 8:30pm that night from inside the house of Shantona Khatun, wife of a neighbour in the same village, Aktaruzzaman Masum. Shantona was detained for questioning over the incident. Police later arrested her on allegations of involvement in the killing.
At the end of the investigation, the then sub-inspector and investigating officer at Jhenaidah Sadar police station, Monoj Kumar Ghosh, submitted the charge sheet to the court 27 days after the incident. A total of 27 witnesses were listed in the case.
In the trial proceedings, public prosecutor advocate S M Mashiur Rahman and additional public prosecutor Kazi Ekramul Haque Alam appeared for the state, while advocate Ashraf Joarder conducted the case as state-appointed counsel. The court delivered the verdict on Tuesday after the charge was proved at the end of the taking of evidence.
According to the case papers, Shantona Khatun admitted killing the child Saba in a statement given to the court under section 164 of the code of criminal procedure.
In the statement she said Saba had got into a fight while playing with her son, Abu Zubayer, on the day of the incident. At one point she struck Saba on the head and the child died at the spot. The body was then hidden inside the house.
State counsel said the court found the accused Shantona Khatun guilty and sentenced her to life imprisonment after reviewing the evidence.