Court grants three days to interrogate teacher’s husband over murder of mother, daughter

The teacher had taken a Tk 50,000 NGO loan, with her student’s mother standing as guarantor

A Dhaka court has placed Humayun Kabir, the husband of schoolteacher Mim Akhter, in three-day police custody for questioning in connection with the killing of a teenager and her mother in Keraniganj.

The order was passed on Tuesday by Dhaka Senior Judicial Magistrate Tanvir Ahmed following a plea from the investigation officer, Prosecution Police Assistant Sub-Inspector Sumaiya Akhter said.

Police recovered the decomposed bodies of Rokeya Rahman, 31, and her 14-year-old daughter Jobaida Rahman Fatema on Jan 15 from a second-floor flat at Keraniganj’s Muktirbagh.

Fatema used to be tutored by Mim, who lived in the same apartment.

After the bodies were found, police took Mim and her younger sister into custody.

Rokeya and Fatema had been missing since Dec 25 last year. Unable to trace them, Rokeya’s husband Shahin Ahmed filed a general diary with Keraniganj Police before lodging a murder case on Jan 6.

Following her arrest, Mim gave a confessional statement in court on Jan 16, admitting her role in the killings. Her sister, 15, was sent to a juvenile development centre in Gazipur.

Based on Mim’s confession, investigation officer Sub-Inspector Rony Chowdhury said she had taken a Tk 50,000 loan from an NGO, for which Rokeya stood as guarantor.

Mim was required to repay Tk 5,000 a month. As instalments fell into arrears, tensions grew between the two women.

On Dec 25, when Fatema came for tuition, the issue of the unpaid loan sparked an argument. During the altercation, Fatema slapped Mim. Enraged, Mim and her sister allegedly strangled Fatema to death, she said.

Mim allegedly later called Rokeya to the flat, claiming Fatema had fallen ill. As soon as Rokeya entered, Mim’s younger sister allegedly strangled her with a scarf.

Fatema’s body was kept on the bathroom ceiling, while Rokeya’s body was hidden under a bed, according to police.

Police arrested Humayun in Muktirbagh around 10:30am on Jan 17.

Investigators sought a seven-day remand, but due to the absence of the case records, the hearing was deferred to Tuesday.

At the hearing, lawyer Nashidus Zaman Nishan argued for the remand on behalf of the prosecution, while no defence lawyer appeared.