Father of Beauty Akter, the 15-year-old girl of Habiganj’s Shayestaganj, did hire a professional killer to murder his daughter in an attempt to frame Babul Mia, who had eloped with Beauty and raped her, police have said.
Published : 07 Apr 2018, 11:36 PM
Sayed Ali, who is the plaintiff in the case over the murder and alleged rape of his daughter, recorded a statement before the court earlier in the day admitting his involvement in the murder.
Superintendent of Police in Habiganj Bidhan Tripura briefed the media about the progress in the investigation of the case on Saturday.
SP Bidhan said they recovered the murder weapon, a knife, following statements of Sayed and his accomplice Moyna Mia.
The police officer said Sayed described in his statement how he handed Beauty to Moyna and a hired killer.
The Rapid Action Battalion or RAB arrested Babul, the alleged rapists and murderer, in Sylhet’s Beanibazar on Mar 30.
The elite force said suspect Babul claimed he is not involved in the killing and made confusing responses to many questions.
According to the case started by Sayed, Beauty was abducted by Babul and some accomplices on Jan 21. Babul then raped Beauty numerous times over the course of a month while holding her hostage, Sayed alleged.
On the night of Mar 16, Babul allegedly abducted Beauty again from her home and raped before killing her.
SP Bidhan, however, on Saturday said Babul was a ‘wicked’ person but was not involved in the killing of Beauty.
He said Babul, who worked in a private firm as a driver at Alipur in Habiganj, had married the wife of an expatriate Bangladeshi earlier.
The police officer said Babul later developed a relationship with Beauty, a grade seven student of a local school, and eloped with her.
They stayed in Alipur from Feb 21 to Mar 9, identifying themselves as husband and wife, the police officer said.
He said Beauty’s mother Husna Begum, who worked at a nearby factory, came to know about the matter and took Beauty back home.
Sayed started a case on Feb 14, accusing Babul of abducting and raping Beauty.
Beauty’s medical test was carried out, and her statement recorded on Mar 12.
SP Bidhan said Beauty had stated her family would have withdrawn the case if Babul married her.
Later, her family sent her to her maternal grandparents’ house in Lakhai.
Sayed's accomplice Moyna, whose wife Asma Akter lost to Babul’s mother in the local union council elections, entered the scene at the time, the police officer said.
He later made Sayed understand that they should kill Beauty and frame Babul, the police officer said.
“Moyna told Sayed that no one would marry Beauty or any other girl of the family if Babul did not marry her,” SP Bidhan said.
At one stage, they hired a ‘professional killer’ on a Tk 10,000 contract, and Moyna gave the ‘killer’ Tk 2,500 in advance, the police officer said.
“On the night of the incident, Moyna and the hired killer brought Beauty from her maternal grandparents’ house. The hired killer tied Beauty up and Moyna killed her by hitting her with a knife five times,” the police officer said.
He said Sayed and Moyna threatened Beauty’s maternal grandmother to keep her mouth shut when she visited Beauty’s house after hearing about the incident on Mar 17.
He said they arrested Moyna on Thursday after detecting his presence at the crime scene by tracking his mobile phone and then Sayed on Friday following Moyna’s statement.
Police are trying to arrest the hired killer, the SP said and added, “The trial will start once we arrest him and charge them all in court.”
Moyna’s wife Asma and Beauty’s grandmother Fatema also gave statements to the court.
Police earlier arrested Babul’s mother Kalam Chan Bibi, who became a union council member by defeating Asma, and Babul’s friend Ismail Hossain. Bibi was sent to jail on Friday after two days of grilling in custody.
Beauty’s mother Husne Ara and brother Sadek Mia are also in police custody.
Police withdrew Sub-Inspector Zakir Hossain, who was investigating the case initially, after finding neglect in duty.
Shayestaganj Police Station Inspector Manikul Islam is investigating the case now.