Bangladeshi man hanged for poisoning wife

DHAKA, Friday (AFP) - A man convicted of killing his teenage wife with poison after he failed to extract dowry payments from her family has been hanged at a jail in southern Bangladesh, a prison official said Friday.

Kamal Hossain Hawlader, 26, was hanged at one minute after midnight (1801 GMT Thursday) at the central prison in Barisal city, warden Anwarul Haq told AFP.

Hawlader was the first person to face capital punishment this year in Bangladesh. He was hanged by four convicts from another prison who had been trained as hangmen, as is usual practice in Bangladesh, Haq said.

"The convict was informed that the death sentence would be carried out at quarter to 10. The execution took place as planned at one minute past twelve," he said.

"His body will be handed over to his family after a post mortem examination has been carried out," he added. The prosecution at Hawlader's 1998 trial said he administered poison to his wife Hanufa, 18, earlier that year after demanding dowry from her parents.

The Bangladeshi president turned down his appeal last year.