Mother-in-law burnt to death by pouring petrol on her body: Son-in-law sentenced to life imprisonment

A court in Gangni upazila of Meherpur has sentenced a man named House Ali to life imprisonment for pouring petrol on the body of his former mother-in-law and killing him. He has been fined Tk 50,000 and ordered to serve another six months in prison in default.
Judge Ali Masud Sheikh of the Meherpur Women and Child Abuse Prevention Tribunal announced the verdict on Thursday (July 9) afternoon. The convicted House Ali is the son of Ahmed Ali of Sholatak village of Gangni upazila. According to court sources, House Ali married Ambia Khatun when he was a child. He was accused of torturing his wife and not providing maintenance since marriage.
At one point, Ambia Khatun divorced her husband for these reasons. Angry over his wife’s lockout, House Ali went to his former in-laws’ house in Shahrabaria village of Gangni upazila on the night of May 7, 2016. Not finding his wife there, his mother poured petrol on the body of Fulsuratan (66) and set it on fire. Ambiya Khatun was in Gangni at the time to perform election duties.
Hearing Fulsuratan’s screams, locals rushed to the spot to try to put out the fire. Later, she was first taken to Gangni Upazila Health Complex and later to Meherpur 250-bed General Hospital, where she died while undergoing treatment. In this incident, her daughter Ambiya Khatun filed a case under Section 4(1) of the Prevention of Atrocities on Women and Children Act, 2000 (amended in 2003). After investigation, the police have filed a chargesheet in the court.
After reviewing the testimony of 18 witnesses and the evidence presented in the case, the court ruled that the charges were proven beyond a reasonable doubt and sentenced House Ali to life imprisonment with rigorous imprisonment and an additional six months in prison with a fine of Tk 50,000 in default.