Serial killer Rasu Kha gets death

Rasu Kha, the much-talked about serial killer from Chandpur, and two others were awarded the death yesterday for the 2009 murder case of a garment worker. 

Justice Abdul Mannan of Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal in Chandpur handed down the punishment to Rasu, his nephew Jahirul Islam and their accomplice Younus.

According to a confessional statement, the idea behind his killing spree was planted while he was living in Tongi 24 years ago. There he met one Sharmin, a girl from a well-off family.

Rasu told police that he proposed to her several times but was rejected. He also claimed to have been severely beaten by goons hired by the girl's family.

Apparently, this made him “angry towards women”.

The former supervisor, a father of three, who was married for 11 years before filing for divorce, went on to marry his wife's younger sister.  

In his confession, Rasu claimed to have killed at least 11 women. Pretending to be in love with his prospective victims, he would lure them into isolated locations before murdering them. 

He said he had vowed to kill 101 women before living out the rest of his life in Shahjalal's shrine in Sylhet.

Rasu first came to the law enforcer's attention after his arrest at Niraspara in Tongi on September 3, 2009, for stealing 10-12 fans from a mosque in Gazipur village in Chandpur.

The police would again come across the serial killer following the murder of Parveen. Using her phone records, they tracked Rasu. He was soon picked up and then remanded on 7 October, 2009.

Persistent questioning by the police led to him confessing to more crimes than the police had anticipated. He recounted grisly details of his murders.

Rasu said his first victim was Shahida, whom he killed in early 2007. He reportedly lured her to Bhatialganj in Faridganj, raped her and then strangled her to death. Rasu told police that he tied her hands and legs and dumped the body on the banks of the Dakatia River in Chandpur sadar upazila.

He even stated that he raped the women he "liked" before killing them. Others were strangled straightaway.

Parveen was his last victim and she was killed with the help of Rasu's nephew Zahirul, the Chandpur Strangler told police.

Earlier on April 22 in 2015, a Chandpur court handed down Rasu capital punishment for the rape and murder of his brother-in-law's wife Shahida.

Rasu earlier told police that he had killed six women in Faridganj of Chandpur, four in Chandpur Sadar and one in Haimchar of the district. All were garments workers in Savar and Tongi.

Police have so far been able to identify five of the victims. They are: Hashar Parveen of Faridganj in Chandpur, Rasu's brother-in-law Mannan's wife Shahida, Kohinoor of Niraspara in Tongi, Mashrufa Mehedi Khatun of the same area, and Rina of Durgapur in Chandpur.

Rasu reportedly tried to commit suicide in police custody at Sadar Model Police Station on October 22, 2009, but was rescued by the police.

On August 21, a Chittagong tribunal acquitted Rasu of murdering a girl after raping her in Chandpur in 2009. Out of the 10 cases filed against him, seven more are still under trial.