BALURGHAT: A Balurghat court on Monday sentenced 34-year-old Saddam Hossain Molla to life imprisonment for killing a housewife and attempting to destroy evidence by dismembering her body with a tractor rotavator.
The Additional District and Sessions Judge (First Court), Santosh Kumar Pathak, found Saddam guilty under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the IPC.
Public Prosecutor Ritabrata Chakraborty said: “On Monday, the judge sentenced the accused to rigorous life imprisonment under Section 302 and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000. In default, he will have to undergo an additional three years of simple imprisonment.”
According to the prosecution, the incident took place in Kalingar under the Tapan Ramchandrapur Gram Panchayat.
The victim, 35-year-old housewife Suleka Khatun Bibi of Nimpur village, was missing since June 18, 2024.
On June 22, human bones were recovered from a field in Kalingar. Subsequent investigations and DNA profiling confirmed them to be the remains of Suleka.
Police later arrested Saddam Hossain Molla, a resident of Tarat village, who reportedly had an extramarital relationship with the victim.
Investigators revealed that a dispute between the two led to Saddam killing Suleka, after which he used a tractor rotavator to chop the body into pieces.
The dismembered remains were buried at different locations in the field in an attempt to remove all traces of the crime. Chakraborty added that Saddam had led the police to the locations where he had buried parts of the body.
“Forensic tests matched the DNA of the recovered remains with that of the victim’s son. Body fragments found stuck to the tractor rotavator also matched forensic evidence.
One remarkable aspect of this case is that the entire trial—from its start on November 4, 2024—concluded within just 13 months,” he noted.
Following the evaluation of witness testimonies, forensic reports and documentary evidence, the court formally convicted Saddam.