Infamous BD hangman dies after turning writer, TikTok star

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s deadliest executioner died Monday a year after he was released from prison where he hanged some of the country’s notorious serial killers, opposition politicians convicted of war crimes and coup plotters, police said.

Since he was released from prison last June, Shahjahan Bouya, 70, wrote a top-selling book narrating his experiences as a hangman, briefly married a young girl 50 years younger than him, and in recent weeks took TikTok by storm with short clips with teenage girls.

He felt chest pain on Monday morning at his home in Hemayetpur, an industrial town outside the capital Dhaka, and was rushed to Dhaka’s Suhrawardy Hospital, police said.

“He was brought in dead — doctors haven’t ascertained the actual cause of his death,” Sajib Dey, a police station chief in Dhaka, told AFP.

“He had breathing difficulties,” Abul Kashem, Bouya’s landlord, told AFP. “He rented one of our rooms only 15 days ago. He lived alone”.