Amid a throng of relatives and well-wishers, the prospect of closure inched nearer as a Chattogram court sentenced Md Abir Ali to death by hanging in the kidnapping and murder of five-year-old Alina Islam Ayat in the port city.

Sixth Additional Chittagong Metropolitan Sessions Judge Muhammad Ali Akkas announced the verdict on Wednesday around 1pm.

The accused was present in the dock when the verdict was announced.

Later, he was taken to jail on the orders of the court.

In observing the verdict, the court said the incident was premeditated, cruel, brutal, ruthless, and created terror in society.

There was another accused in this case whose trial is currently underway in the juvenile court. As he is a minor, his identity has been withheld.

After the verdict, Assistant Public Prosecutor of the Chittagong Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court Mohammad Raihanul Wazed Chowdhury said, "The maximum punishment for the accused is the death sentence as the charges against the accused were proven beyond doubt based on the confessional statement, investigation report, autopsy report, evidence recovery, and review of the statements of witnesses."

He said the court had also imposed a fine of Tk1 lakh on the accused.

The fine has been ordered to be given to the victim's family. In default of payment, Abir will have to serve three months of rigorous imprisonment.

At the same time, the verdict has sentenced Abir to five years' imprisonment for the crime of disappearing the body.

Police and court sources said Alina Islam Ayat, daughter of Sohel Rana, a resident of the Bandartila area of EPZ Police Station in Chattogram city, went missing on November 14, 2022, while studying Arabic at a mosque next to her house.

A general diary (GD) was filed at the EPZ Police Station in this incident.

Later, at the family's request, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) started a shadow investigation.

The investigation revealed that their house tenant, Md Abir, was involved in the kidnapping and murder of Ayat.

After his arrest on November 25, Abir confessed to the murder in his statement given to the court.

The investigation revealed that Abir kidnapped Ayat for ransom.

However, unable to find a place to keep her, he strangled her to death and threw her body into the sea after cutting it into six pieces.

On November 30 of the same year, the PBI recovered Ayat's two legs from a hole in the sluice gate adjacent to Akmal Ali Ghat on Outer Ring Road.

A severed head was recovered the next day.

After the investigation, on October 10, 2023, the then inspector of PBI, Mustafizur Rahman, submitted a charge sheet to the court, accusing Md Abir Ali and his 17-year-old teenage friend.

After the verdict, Sohel Rana, the plaintiff in the case and Ayat's father, said, "I am happy with the verdict. Let the death sentence of the accused be implemented quickly."