JUSTICE FINALLY SERVED
SHILLONG: Justice was finally meted out to the family of five year old Mohammad Shamsad Ansari after a city court on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to his uncle Mehboob Ansari for abducting the child and later murdering him in 2011.
Informing this on Tuesday, public prosecutor I.C. Jha said the Court of Sessions Judge found the accused guilty under Section 364 (A) and Section 302 of IPC.
Judge A.M. Ripnar while hearing the matter of quantum of punishment on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to the accused under Section 364 (A), which is kidnapping for ransom and under Section 302 IPC which is murder along with a fine of Rs 25,000 and in default of fine to undergo additional imprisonment of one year.
During the hearing, while Jha made a submission that the accused should be given death penalty, counsel for the accused Nazrul Islam Chaudhury pleaded that since this is his first offence and he has minor children, he should be given lesser punishment.
Mohammad Shamsad Ansari, a KG class student of Arya Kanya Vidyalaya at Laitumkhrah, was five years old when he went missing on November 25, 2011 from Bihari Colony, Nongrim Hills and later his body was recovered from a forest at Laitkor.
The father of the boy filed a missing report with the police on November 26.
Acting on the FIR, police began investigation and after interrogating several people, police called the boy’s paternal uncle Mehboob Ansari, to Laitumkhrah police station for interrogation.
Fearing that the truth would be revealed, Mehboob Ansari threw his cell phone into the toilet of Laitumkhrah police station which was subsequently recovered by police.
The police after examining the call records of the cell phone of Ansari came to the conclusion that it was from the phone of Ansari that a call was made demanding a ransom of Rs 3 lakh.
During interrogation, the uncle confessed that he had killed the boy at Laitkor after abducting him in his local taxi (MLO5 D 2302).
The accused killed the boy after hitting him with a wheel range, strangulated him and threw the body in the forest.
The accused made the call demanding ransom after killing the child. Police later recovered blood stains, shoes of the child and even the wheel range which was used to commit the crime.
Though the entire incident was suspected to be a case of child sacrifice, many of the witnesses did not appear before the court and hence the angle of child sacrifice could not be corroborated.
Earlier in 2011, the victim’s relatives and neighbours had suspected it to be a case of child sacrifice.
According to the child’s neighbours and relatives, the accused Mehboob Hussain had three girls and wanted a boy. He came into contact with a tantrik to have his pregnant wife deliver a boy. Some neighbours said Mehboob and his wife were seen going out in their taxi every night during those days.
However, police had termed these as mere allegations.
It may be noted that the case had been investigated by then Sub-Inspector Belario R. Marak and supervised by then Addl. Superintendent of Police (City), Shillong, Vivek Syiem.