‘Envy’ drives teenager to murder 4-year-old sister in Dhaka slum: RAB

The Rapid Action Battalion or RAB has arrested a teenage boy for strangling his four-year-old sister to death in a slum in Dhaka's Banani.

The incident took place at Banani’s Karail slum on Wednesday morning, according to law enforcers. The 14-year old Al-Amin, a madrasa student, was apprehended later that night.

Al-Amin is the son of Md Liton Mia, a street vendor, and 'Rupsana', who works as a housemaid in the area, RAB-1's Assistant Superintendent Md Kamruzzaman told bdnews24.com.

Envy at losing his parents' affection to his sister Mim purportedly drove him to commit the heinous act, according to Kamruzzaman.

Before leaving for work on Wednesday morning, Rupsana had asked Al-Amin to look after his baby sister, who was asleep at the time. His father Liton had also been out of the house but when he returned, Mim was nowhere to be found, while Al-Amin remained silent.

An announcement was made from the mosque's loudspeakers about the missing child and her body was found a couple of hours later in a washroom near the house.

But Al-Amin’s muted reaction to the incident drew the suspicion of the law enforcers and when questioned about the matter, he openly admitted to killing the child.

Al-Amin complained that his parents gradually became less attentive towards him after Mim's birth, adding that his father would often beat him.

He went on to explain that the parents would rush to Mim after returning from work, prioritising her wellbeing over his. All these had led him to take his sister’s life and he had initially hidden the body under the bed.

When everyone was outside looking for Mim, her brother took the opportunity to move the body to the washroom, RAB officials said, quoting Al-Amin.