Cutting woman after killing and rape: Prime accused confesses to court

The accused gave confessional statement to the court of Senior Judicial Magistrate Sayed Mahbubul Islam in Sunamganj after he was produced on Tuesday (March 1) afternoon.

Confirming the matter, CID inspector Liton Dewan who is the investigation officer of the case, said the prime accused of Shahnaj Parvin Jyotsna murder case Jitesh Gope gave statement to the court under Section 164 confessing his involvement in the murder.

Earlier, three accused Jitesh Chandra Gope, Anjit Gope and Asit Gope were placed on an eight-day remand on February 20 in the first phase and three-day remand in the second phase responding to the appeal of the IO.

According to the case statement, the 35-year-old Shahnaj Parvin Jyotsna, was a mother of three. She was a resident of Jagannath municipality. She went to Jitesh’s pharmacy to buy medicine, where she was offered a bottle of cold drink mixed with strong  sleeping pills. As she fell asleep, the accused then gang-raped her inside the pharmacy. As the victim threatened to disclose the matter to police, she was strangled and then dismembered into six pieces. Later, the accused planned to conceal the body. Following the arrest of three accused from the capital Dhaka and Sunamganj on February 18 last, the CID learnt those information questioning the accused.

On February 7, police recovered the Parvin’s dismembered body parts from the locked Ovi Medical Hall at Barraister MirzaAbdul Matin Market in Jagannathpur Poura Point. On the same day, victim’s brother Helal Uddin filed a case with Jagannathpur Police Station, accusing Jitesh Chandra Gope (45), owner of Ovi Medical Hall pharmacy, who hails from Kishorganj’s Itna upazila.

The case statement reads that Pervin had been living along with her two sons and  a daughter at her house in the municipal area since 2013. Her husband has been working in Saudi Arabia for a long time. She had a good understanding with Jitesh as she had been purchasing all her family drugs from the pharmacy.

Slain Shahnaj had been going through health problems over some time. In order to get an advice, she went to Ovi Medical Hall to meet Jitesh on February 16 afternoon. Instead of giving her any advice, Pervin was kept waiting inside the pharmacy and told to resolve her problems once the rush of patients came down.

Inspector Liton Dewan said: “The prime accused Jitesh had planned with his friend grocer Onjit Gope, 33, and adjacent Arup Pharmacy’s owner Asit Gope, 36, to rape Shahnaj Pervin Jyotsna. As per the plan, Jitesh offered Shahnaj sleeping pill-laced cold drink. Drinking it, Shahnaj fell in deep sleep. Later, Jitesh left the pharmacy keeping Shahnaj inside and locking it from outside. As all the nearby shops got closed, Jitesh entered the pharmacy after midnight and offered Shahnaj an energy drink. Then they raped Shahnaj one after another. When Shahnaj told the accused that she would disclose about the rape to her family members and others, the accused instantly planned to murder her. Later, they murdered Shahnaj strangling her with a scarf and putting a pillow on her face.

Later on Thursday afternoon, police broke open the pharmacy and recovered Shahnaj’s body — which was dismembered into six parts.

The knife used for the murder was also found at the pharmacy.