Serial killers and true crime

By Mizan Rahman
The acquittal of serial killer Roshu Kha, 35, on 08/22 in a case relating to rape and killing of a girl Poppy in a Chittagong court, has created a stir among villagers.
Residents of Modna village in Chandra Union of Sadar sub-district in Chandpur district are surprised to see the notorious criminal going scot-free. Although Roshu Kha has gone scot free in the murder case, the chances of his release from prison are extremely remote as he is implicated in seven  other murder cases, lawyers said yesterday.
After visiting Modna, newspaper reporters yesterday could not trace Roshu’s mother and brothers.  Locals said family members of the criminal have long fled from their ancestral village. His cousin, Anwar Khan, was unhappy at Roshu’s acquittal.

Newly elected Union Parishad (UP) chairman, Mohd Yusuf Khan, expressed surprise and told Gulf Times: “Roshu Kha is a notorious criminal. He should have been punished. He has tarnished the good name of this union.”
The “speedy trial court” should have taken place at Chandpur, instead of Chittagong city, as it would have helped people eager to give evidence against the criminal.
It is difficult for villagers to travel to the far-away south-eastern port city from Chandpur to give evidence against Kha, he added.

Local UP member in ward number 5, Md Mofu, told newsmen that villagers would be safe if the dangerous criminal was behind bars.  “About 15 years ago, Roshu and his family members were ousted from the village by angry residents,” he added.
Shafique, a villager, said: “We want Roshu to be hanged after a trial.”
He urged the government to shift the trial court from Chittagong to Chandpur for the convenience of villagers.
On October 7, 2007, the criminal was arrested by the Faridganj police from a Nirashpara house in Tongi in connection with theft of ceiling fans from a mosque at Gazipur Bazaar in Faridganj sub-district of the district.
When he was remanded, Roshu told the police that he had raped and killed 11 young women between September 30, 2007 and 2009 in Chandpur, Faridganj and Haimchar.
In his confessional statement, Roshu said he had killed these women to avenge his past. He had vowed to kill 101 women when the girl he was in love with, rejected him 15 years ago.

 

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