DHAKA: According to authorities, the deadliest executioner in Bangladesh passed away on Monday, one year after being freed from the prison where he had hung opposition lawmakers found guilty of war crimes, coup plotters, and some of the nation’s most infamous serial killers.
Shahjahan Bouya,70, was freed from prison in June of last year. Since then, he has written a best-selling book detailing his exploits as a hangman, temporarily wed a young woman who is 50 years younger than him, and in recent weeks, he has taken TikTok by storm with shorter videos featuring juvenile ladies.
He was taken to Dhaka’s Suhrawardy Hospital on Monday morning after complaining of chest pains at his Hemayetpur, an industrial area outside of the capital, according to police.
“He was brought in dead; the cause of his death has not been determined by doctors,” Dhaka police station commander Sajib Dey stated. According to Bouya’s landlord, Abul Kashem, “he had breathing difficulties.” Only fifteen days ago, he rented one of our rooms. He was a solitary person. Bouya was incarcerated for 42 years due to a murder conviction.
He was released from Dhaka’s top jail last year, however, after completing dozens of hangings while inside, which helped to lessen his sentence. According to rights organization Amnesty International, Bangladesh is third in the world for the number of death sentences imposed, and it assigns prisoners to carry out the hangings.
A well-read Marxist revolutionary, Bouya joined the banned Sarbahara rebels in the 1970s in their attempt to overthrow a government they believed to be a puppet of nearby India. For the 1979 truck driver’s killing in a police crossfire, he was found guilty.
Although Bouya claims to have participated in 60 killings, prison officials record his number as 26.
Among those who perished at his hands were military leaders convicted of organizing a coup in 1975 and assassinating the nation’s founding father, Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of today.
