Mohammadpur double murder: Suspect still at large, had prior theft record
According to law enforcement sources, Ayesha may have been involved in at least two incidents of theft from other households she worked for previously.
Authorities in Dhaka are racing to capture a domestic worker named Ayesha, suspected of murdering a woman and her teenage daughter in their Mohammadpur home.
Investigators have uncovered troubling details about her past, raising fears about her potential threat to other households.
According to law enforcement sources, Ayesha may have been involved in at least two incidents of theft from other households she worked for previously. Preliminary findings suggest that the Mohammadpur killings could have occurred after she was caught trying to steal again. Officials, however, caution that the motive is still under investigation.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Abdullah Al Mamun, assistant commissioner of Mohammadpur Zone under Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Tejgaon Division, told The Business Standard: "The husband of the victims has filed a murder case naming the domestic worker as the accused. We are investigating whether the crime was committed for theft or for another reason."
The grisly crime
The incident took place last Monday on the seventh floor of a residence at 32/2A, Shahjahan Road, Mohammadpur. Ayesha allegedly murdered homeowner Laila Afroze (48) and her daughter Nafisa Lawal Binte Aziz (15) before fleeing the scene.
The victims' bloodied bodies were recovered in separate locations: Laila's corpse was found inside the apartment around 11:45am, while Nafisa, critically injured and lying near the main gate, was rushed to Shahid Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital and declared dead upon arrival.
Autopsy reports revealed the extent of the violence: Laila suffered 30 separate injuries, including fatal throat wounds, while Nafisa had six deep cuts across her body.
Sources say that upon starting work in Mohammadpur four days prior, Ayesha claimed her parents had died in a fire, leaving burn scars on her face and neck. This aligns with previous reports of a domestic worker with a similar description of burns who had fled after thefts in the area seven to eight months ago. Authorities believe the past incidents and the current murders may involve the same individual.
In this incident, AZM Azizul Islam, Nafisa's father, filed a murder case at the Mohammadpur Police Station. He is a teacher at Sunbeams School in Uttara.
In the case statement, he said that the accused had started working at his residence as a part-time domestic worker four days earlier. On Monday, around 7am, he left for his workplace in Uttara. While at his workplace, he tried multiple times to contact his wife on her mobile phone but failed.
Later, around 11am, he returned home in desperation and found his wife lying dead in the house with multiple deep cuts on her throat and other parts of her body, and his daughter lying near the main gate in a severely injured condition with a cut on the right side under her throat.
Immediate rescue efforts by household staff could not save Nafisa.
In the case statement, he further said that upon reviewing the house's CCTV footage, he saw that the accused had arrived at the house at 7:51am and had left the house at 9:35am wearing his daughter's school uniform. During her escape, she took with her one mobile phone, one laptop, gold jewellery, cash, and other valuable items.
Law enforcement agencies face challenges, community in shock
Police and other law enforcement agencies, including the Detective Branch (DB), Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), CID, RAB, and military, have launched continuous operations to locate Ayesha. Raids have been conducted at multiple locations since Monday night, but the suspect remains at large.
Investigators are relying on CCTV footage to trace her escape, but gaps in coverage have hindered efforts. Additional challenges include Mohammadpur's dense population of domestic workers, many of whose identities are undocumented, and the area's high crime rate, making tracking the suspect especially difficult.
Deputy Commissioner Jewel Rana urged homeowners to maintain records of domestic workers' national ID cards and submit tenancy information to the police, emphasising the need for systemic oversight to prevent similar incidents.
The brutal killing has left the Mohammadpur community in shock. The bodies were later handed over to the family and transported to their ancestral village in Borgacha, Natore, for final rites. Authorities continue to investigate all leads, including Ayesha's claimed hometown in Rangpur and her alleged past injuries from fire, as they seek to understand her motive and prevent further crimes.
