A Dhaka court on Wednesday sentenced a private driver to death for killing his employer, Afroza Sultana, at her flat in Middle Badda more than four years ago.

Judge Mohammad Moin Uddin Chowdhury of the Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge-3 Court delivered the verdict.

Additional Public Prosecutor Mohammad Zahirul Islam Kaiyum confirmed the judgment and said the victim’s family had received justice through the verdict.

According to the prosecution, Hridoy Bepari, also known as Hridoy Mia, murdered Afroza Sultana by slitting her throat at her second-floor flat in Middle Badda on 13 March 2022.

The victim’s brother, Al Manjil, filed a murder case with Badda Police Station the following day.

Sub-Inspector Mohammad Ripon Uddin of the Detective Branch’s Gulshan Division investigated the case.

Investigators said CCTV footage, the accused’s confession and forensic evidence showed that Hridoy had accumulated heavy debts after losing money in online gambling. They said he murdered Afroza Sultana to repay the debts and rob her jewellery.

Following the accused’s confession, investigators recovered the 9-inch bloodstained knife used in the murder, 22.04 grams of stolen gold jewellery, bloodstained tissue paper and the victim’s vanity bag containing Tk600 buried underground.

The forensic report prepared by Dr KM Moin Uddin and the Criminal Investigation Department’s DNA report also linked the accused to the crime. Hridoy later gave a confessional statement before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The court recorded testimony from 12 prosecution witnesses and completed the trial within 30 working days after framing charges.

In his observations, the judge said the accused had brutally murdered an innocent woman after abusing the trust placed in him as a loyal employee. He described the offence as one of the “rarest of the rare” crimes.