Criminal Court has convicted two Bangladeshi nationals of the 2019 murder of a fellow worker whose body was dumped into the sea off Sh. Lhaimagu, with sentencing to follow after the testimony of the victim's heirs is obtained.

The court on Tuesday found Alamin and Noorul Islam guilty of the premeditated murder of Luthufar, a cook who disappeared in 2019. The prosecution said the victim was strangled aboard a vessel before his body was weighted with rocks and thrown into the ocean.

A third defendant, MD Akhthar, died in custody while the case was pending.

Following the convictions, the court ordered the prosecution to identify Luthufar's legal heirs and arrange for their testimony before sentencing. Under law, the views of a murder victim's heirs may be relevant to determining the final sentence.

The three men had initially admitted the charges under plea agreements but later withdrew their confessions and pleaded not guilty.

According to the indictment, the defendants strangled Luthufar by compressing his neck and covering his nose while the vessel was docked in Lhaimagu harbour. His body was then transported offshore and dumped about 200 feet from the island after being tied to rocks.

In his judgment, Criminal Court Judge Ahmed Shafiu said the statements given by the accused during the police investigation contained detailed and consistent descriptions of how the killing was carried out and how the body was disposed of.

The judge said only those involved in the crime could have provided such detailed accounts without contradiction. He ruled that the confessions made during the investigation were voluntary and remained admissible despite being retracted during the trial.

The court also found that the evidence demonstrated the defendants harbored hostility towards Luthufar and that the manner of the killing established beyond reasonable doubt that the murder was intentional.

A central issue during the trial was the identity of the victim, as Luthufar had no passport or official immigration records showing he had entered or lived in the Maldives.

The judge noted that establishing the victim's identity was essential, particularly because the testimony of the victim's heirs is required before sentencing in murder cases.

Judge Shafiu ruled that official documents were not the only means of proving a person's identity.

He cited witness testimony confirming that Luthufar had lived in Lhaimagu and worked aboard the vessel. The judge also noted that the accused had identified a photograph of Luthufar during the investigation by signing and fingerprinting it.

The judgment further relied on DNA evidence showing that genetic material recovered from the skeletal remains matched samples provided by Luthufar's mother, father and two children in Bangladesh.

The judge described DNA as powerful scientific evidence and concluded that the remains recovered from the sea belonged to Luthufar.

He also ruled that the sanctity and legal protection of a person's life do not depend on immigration status or official documentation.

Having found Alamin and Noorul Islam guilty of premeditated murder, the court adjourned the case to allow the prosecution to obtain testimony from Luthufar's heirs before sentencing is determined.