'I am an unfortunate mother' written on the wall — bodies of a woman and her two children recovered in Chirirbandar
Police have recovered the bodies of a mother and her two young children from a house in Chirirbandar, Dinajpur. The incident took place at around seven on Sunday evening in Mostafapur Balupara village of Amarpur Union in the upazila. Several sentences written on the wall of the house have brought grief and stunned silence across the area.
The woman whose body was recovered is named Swarna Akter (24). She is the wife of Shakil Hossain (28), son of Mahatab Hossain of that village. Their two children are Safayet Hossain (4) and Raifa Moni (1). Police recovered the bodies of the three from the spot.
Police's initial assumption is that the woman committed suicide after strangling her two children to death. However, police say an investigation is ongoing to confirm the actual cause of death.
According to police and local sources, Shakil Hossain is an easy-bike driver by profession. According to local people, he had become addicted to drugs for quite some time. There were frequent quarrels between the husband and wife over this. On Sunday morning too there was a quarrel between them; at one stage Shakil left home and went to the market.
Towards the evening, Swarna closed the door of the bedroom with her two children. Getting no sound for a long time, Shakil's mother went to the door and called out. Getting no response from inside, she informed the neighbours. Later, several of the neighbours broke the door of the room, entered and found Swarna and her two children dead.
Some words written on the wall of the house were found, said local union parishad member Nur Amin Shah. It was written there: 'From today this story is over. Do not give my children to the police. I am an unfortunate mother. I killed (my children) myself. Mother-Father, sorry. I love you.'
Nur Amin Shah said Shakil is his neighbour. He suspects the incident may have occurred in the wake of a family feud. The incident has come as a big shock to the people of the area too — the entire village is stunned at the news of three lives lost at once.
Mahmudun Nabi, officer-in-charge (OC) of Chirirbandar Police Station, said that on receiving the news, police went to the spot and recovered the three bodies. It is initially being assumed that in the wake of family unrest the woman hanged herself and committed suicide after strangling her two children to death.
The OC also said that the husband, Shakil Hossain, has been taken into police custody in this incident. He will be questioned to confirm the actual cause of death.
Police said the cause of death will be known definitively only after the post-mortem examination of the bodies. Investigators are verifying all the facts surrounding the incident, including the writing on the wall.
The incident has once again brought to the fore the question of the destructive consequences of family unrest and drug addiction. According to local people, the long-standing feud over drug addiction was at the root of this family's unrest — although nothing can be said for certain about the actual cause until the investigation ends.
Police say the full picture of the incident will become clear once the interrogation and the post-mortem report are in hand. Until then, the shadow of mourning is over Mostafapur Balupara village — in one house, the lives of an entire family have been extinguished.
