Two sisters found dead under fallen tree in Gaibandha

Police say the bodies were found covered with leaves beneath the trunk of a felled tree

The bodies of two young sisters who had earlier been reported missing have been found under a recently felled tree in Gaibandha Sadar Upazila.

The children’s bodies were discovered on Thursday evening in Khamar Raghunathpur village of Ballamjhar Union.

Police identified the victims as Fiha Moni, 11, and her 2-year-old sister Jannati Akhtar, daughters of local resident Farid Mia. Fiha Moni was a fifth-grade student at a government primary school.

According to their father, the elder sister had gone outside in the afternoon carrying the younger child. When they failed to return by nightfall, relatives launched a search.

Their bodies were later found around 8pm beneath the trunk of a newly cut tree belonging to two neighbours, Motiar Rahman and Madhu Mia. The bodies had been covered with leaves.

Gaibandha Sadar Police Station chief (OC) Abdullah Al Mamun said police and Fire Service personnel recovered the bodies after being alerted to the incident.

He said the tree, estimated to be about 40 feet tall, had collapsed suddenly towards the south during the evening, breaking through a tin boundary fence and falling onto nearby farmland. No safety measures had been taken at the time the tree was cut, police said.

Investigators believe the children may have been standing in the area, which is used as a pathway and open space, when the tree fell. They are thought to have died at the scene.

It is being suspected that after the incident, the tree’s owners covered the bodies with leaves and fled the area in an attempt to conceal what had happened.

An inquest has been completed and the bodies have been taken to the police station, OC Mamun said, adding that legal proceedings are under way.