Woman, set on fire by 'husband' in Laxmipur, dies

A woman has died after being set on fire when she went to her in-laws' house in Laxmipur to demand recognition as a wife.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 22 April 2019, 02:43 PM
Updated : 22 April 2019, 02:43 PM

The 22-year-old Shahinur Akter died during her treatment at the burns unit of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 11am on Monday, said Bacchu Mia, sub-inspector of DMCH Police Outpost.

She sustained around 40 percent burns to her body, said SI Bacchu, citing doctors.

Shahinur, who hailed from Chattogram’s Raujan Upazila, was admitted to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit around 2am on Monday.

She came under attack at Patarirhat area of Kamalnagar Upazila in Laxmipur on Sunday, according to Laxmipur Police Superintendent ASM Mahtab Uddin.

She was rushed to the Laxmipur General Hospital and later sent to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital in a critical condition.

Shahinur told reporters at the hospital that she had married Salahuddin from Patarirhat in Laxmipur’s Kamalnagar Upazila after the two developed  relationship from mobile phone conversations two years ago.

Salahuddin frequently visited her home in Chattogram but never took her to Laxmipur, according to Shahinur.

When she finally went to visit her in-laws in Laxmipur on Friday night, she found that Salahuddin was already married to another woman with whom he had two children, she said.

Salahuddin subsequently refused to acknowledge her as his wife, leading her to contact Md Hafiz Ullah, a member of the local union council and village policeman Abu Taher to resolve the matter.

But both Hafiz and Taher were non-committal over the matter. Later, Salahuddin called her to a soybean field near his home and set her on fire after pouring kerosene on her body, Shahinur alleged.