Mother of 3 commits suicide following rape

A mother of three committed suicide in Dimla upazila, Nilphamari on Saturday after she was reportedly raped by her local union parishad (UP) member and his accomplice earlier last week, sources said.

A Dimla police team led by OC Mafiz Uddin recovered her body from her home in Purba Chhatunama village, in Jhunagachh Chapani union of Dimla, on Saturday afternoon after receiving a call on emergency hotline 999, Dima police station Sub-Inspector Atiqur Rahman confirmed yesterday.

The deceased was identified as Jahanara Begum, 42, a widow. Her husband Abdul Jalil, from the same village, died one and a half years ago.

The suspects, Saiful Islam, 48, member of Ward 9 in Jhunagachh Chapani Union Parishad, and his associate Mannan, 37, who is also the victim’s husband’s cousin, have gone into hiding since the news broke out.

According to locals, on Wednesday, Saiful and Mannan went to Jahanara’s house supposedly to hand over her widow allowance card, but they both raped her.

When she screamed, her neighbours rushed to the house and caught the two red-handed.

However, the suspects managed to escape with the help of local influential people, villagers said.

Later, when the victim tried to file a case with the police, she was reportedly stopped by locally influential people.

On Saturday afternoon, her neighbours noticed her body hanging inside the house and notified her sisters Nazma and Nasima, who later informed the law enforcement on 999.

Some locals said that Jahanara was raped again on the day she committed suicide, while some others said she was killed and her body was hung from the ceiling to make it look like a suicide.

Whatever the case may be, her neighbours demanded that police investigate the matter properly and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Sub-Inspector Atiqur said Jahanara’s body had been sent to a morgue in Nilphamari yesterday for autopsy, and her family was preparing to file a case.

Source: Dhaka Tribune