Suspect arrested 10 hours after Pallabi child is murdered

The child’s mother finds her body after seeing a sandal outside a neighbour’s door

Police have arrested a man accused of killing a second-grade student in Dhaka’s Pallabi after he allegedly fled from the scene following the incident.

The victim, Ramisa Akter, was due to go to school on Tuesday morning when her family began searching for her after she could not be found inside the five-storey building.

According to the family, they later found the girl’s sandals outside a neighbouring flat on the third floor.

After receiving no response from inside, residents broke open the door and discovered the girl's severed body inside the flat.

Police said the flat had been sublet to Sohel Rana, a rickshaw repair worker.

Investigators said he escaped after cutting through a window grill, while his wife, Shwapna Akter, remained inside the flat and was later detained.

Police later said Sohel was arrested in Narayanganj’s Fatullah around 10 hours after the incident.

The motive behind the killing has not yet been disclosed, with police saying further details would be shared after questioning the suspect.

Abdul Hannan Molla, the victim’s father, had been living with his family in Pallabi for more than a decade.

Ramisa, the younger of his two daughters, studied at a local school.

A neighbour said the child had been a bright student and had ranked first in her class last year.

Local resident Yasin Ali said Sohel had moved into the building only a few months ago as a subtenant.

He added that residents handed Sohel’s wife over to police after finding her inside the flat.

According to locals, the woman later told police that she had been left in a near-unconscious state after allegedly being drugged by her husband before the incident.