May 7
BANGLADESH:
Man hanged for poisoning wife
A man convicted of killing his teenage wife with poison after he failed to
extract dowry payments from her family has been hanged at a jail in
southern Bangladesh, a prison official said yesterday.
Kamal Hossain Hawlader, 26, was hanged at 1 minute after midnight at the
central prison in Barisal city, warden Anwarul Haq said.
Hawlader was the 1st person to face capital punishment this year in
Bangladesh.
He was hanged by 4 convicts from another prison who had been trained as
hangmen, as is usual practice in Bangladesh, Haq said.
"The convict was informed that the death sentence would be carried out at
quarter to 10. The execution took place as planned at one minute past
twelve," he said.
"His body will be handed over to his family after a post mortem
examination has been carried out," he added.
The prosecution at Hawlader's 1998 trial said he administered poison to
his wife Hanufa, 18, earlier that year after demanding dowry from her
parents.
The Bangladeshi president turned down his appeal last year.
4 death row convicts including 3 policemen and a notorious serial killer
were hanged in 2004.
Bangladesh has been handing down death penalties with increasing frequency
since November 2002 when fast-track courts were established as part of a
crackdown on crime.
Since the courts were set up, more than 120 people have been sentenced to
death.
None of the sentences, however, have been carried out due to delays in the
appeals system, officials said.
Hawlader and the 4 men executed last year were tried before the
introduction of the fast-track courts.
(source: Agence France Presse)
