Mother Kills Two Children, Then Herself in Dinajpur's Chirirbandar, Police Say

A housewife in Chirirbandar upazila of Dinajpur strangled her two children to death and then took her own life, police have said. The tragedy occurred at around 6:30 pm on Sunday in Mostafapur Balupara village of Amarpur Union No. 6 in the upazila.

The dead are Swarna Akter, 23, wife of Shakil Hossain of the village, and her two children — four-year-old son Safayet Hossain and two-year-old daughter Raisa Akter. News of the deaths of a mother and two small children in the same house has cast a pall of grief over the area.

Citing local residents, police said Shakil Hossain is a rickshaw puller by profession. Locals said he was addicted to drugs, and that he and his wife frequently quarrelled over the issue. That family conflict has initially emerged as the backdrop to the incident.

According to police, the couple quarrelled again on the afternoon of the incident. Shakil Hossain and other members of the household then went to the market, leaving the house empty — and it is believed the incident took place during that time.

Police said that while the family was out, Swarna Akter first strangled her son and daughter to death. She then hanged herself with her scarf.

Local residents believe Swarna chose this path after becoming desperate under her husband's abuse. They said she first strangled the two children and later hanged herself by tying her scarf to a beam of the house. Police, however, said these remain preliminary assumptions until the investigation is complete.

Local chairman Iqbal Hossain Kazi, who was present at the scene, said that in the evening, when everyone had gone to the market, Swarna strangled her four-year-old son Safayet and two-year-old daughter Raisa, and then hanged herself with her scarf.

Mahmud-un-Nabi, officer-in-charge of Chirirbandar Police Station, confirmed the incident. He said he had already reached the scene and that details would be shared once the actual cause was known.

Dinajpur's Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Anwar Hossain said the bodies would undergo post-mortem examinations. An investigation has begun to uncover the real cause of the incident.

The full truth behind the three deaths will only be known once the post-mortem reports and the investigation are complete. For now, police are collecting information from the scene and speaking with family members and local residents.