Supreme Court Judgments, Summarised

by Barrister Tahmidur Rahman | Nov 3, 2026

Summary

A college student went missing in May 2009 while travelling home from her sister's house. Her father later identified, from clothing and a photograph shown at Banaripara police station, a decomposed unknown female body recovered from a river and buried after autopsy. He alleged that the accused, whose marriage proposals the family had refused, abducted, raped and killed her. The Nari-o-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Tribunal, Pirojpur convicted the absconding accused and sentenced him to death under section 302 of the Penal Code, acquitting three co-accused. On the reference, the High Court Division held that identification by the father from clothing alone was not sufficient, as the body was never exhumed and the photograph was not produced. The only last-seen evidence came from one witness who told the family three days later, was uncorroborated, and described no force or inducement amounting to abduction. No motive or complete chain of circumstances was proved, and abscondence alone was not proof of guilt. The reference was rejected and the accused acquitted.

Issues

  1. Q1

    Whether identification of an unknown, decomposed body solely from clothing shown at a police station proved that the body was that of the missing victim.

  2. Q2

    Whether the evidence proved abduction within section 2(Kha) of the Nari-o-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Ain, 2000 or a complete chain of last-seen circumstances against the accused.

Key points

  • Identification of a decomposed unknown body by a parent solely from clothing seized by police, without exhumation or production of the photograph, is not sufficient to prove that the body was that of the missing victim.
  • Leaving with the accused by trawler, without evidence of force, deceit or inducement, does not amount to abduction as defined in section 2(Kha) of the Nari-o-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Ain, 2000.
  • To convict on the last-seen theory, the prosecution must prove a complete and unbroken chain of events; the uncorroborated account of one witness disclosed three days later did not suffice.
  • Abscondence by itself is not proof of guilt in the absence of legal evidence against the accused.
  • As the prosecution failed to prove abduction under section 7 of the Ain, 2000 and murder under section 302 of the Penal Code, the conviction and death sentence were set aside.

we find that the prosecution failed to bring home the charge against the condemned-convict in both the counts i.e., abduction under section 7 of the Ain, 2000 and murder under section 302 of the Penal Code.

From the judgment, Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty
Law considered

Nari-o-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Ain, 2000, section 7Nari-o-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Ain, 2000, section 2(Kha)Penal Code, 1860, sections 302 and 201

The judgment

In the court’s own words.

Death Reference 67/2019, as published by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. 22 pages, with paragraph numbers for citing.

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