Allegations of killing and hanging a widow with a tree in Paikgachha, Brother-in-law arrested

There have been allegations of a widow being tortured to death and then tried to commit suicide in Kapilmuni, Paikgacha upazila of Khulna.

The deceased woman, Rashida Begum (34), is a mother of two. Locals have arrested her brother-in-law, Mofizul Gazi alias Moidul (38), on charges of involvement in the incident and handed her over to the police.

The tragic incident took place on Saturday (December 13) night in Kashimnagar village of the upazila.

Police and local sources said that Rashida Begum, the wife of the deceased Enamul Gazi of Kashimnagar village, was sleeping in her house with her 13-year-old daughter Tasmira Khatun as usual on Saturday night. Her mother-in-law was in the next room, and her brother-in-law and other relatives were staying in the nearby room.

The deceased's daughter Tasmira Khatun said that late at night, her uncle Mofizul Gazi called her mother outside, saying that he would talk about land mutation. After a while, when the door of the house was closed from outside, she shouted and called her mother, uncle and other family members, but no one responded.

A preliminary investigation by the police revealed that that night Rashida was taken out of the house and brutally tortured. She was hit on sensitive parts of her body with a stick, causing excessive bleeding. It is believed that at one point she was killed and hung from a litchi tree in front of the house with a veil.

On Sunday morning, local people saw the body hanging from the litchi tree and informed the police. On receiving the information, Police Inspector Monirul Islam, in-charge of Kapilmuni Police Outpost, reached the spot and recovered the body. Preparations for an autopsy have been made after the post-mortem report.

After the incident, the locals arrested the deceased's brother-in-law, Mofizul Gazi, as a suspect and tied him to an electric pole. Later, the police came and took him into custody.

Meanwhile, the deceased's brother-in-law, Rabiul Gazi, claimed that he noticed movement in the litchi tree while going to Fajr prayers in the morning, but did not pay attention to it, mistaking it for the presence of a cat. After the prayers, he went to the compound. At around 7:30 in the morning, the family members When he returned after receiving the call, he found the body hanging.

In this regard, Kapilmuni Police Outpost In-charge Monirul Islam said,

“Initially, it seems to be a murder. The real cause of death and details of the incident will be clear after receiving the autopsy report.”

He also said that preparations are underway for a murder case in this incident.