Police detain man over killing of woman, child in Faridpur

Police have detained a man over the killing of a woman and her five-year-old daughter whose bodies were recovered from a buried site in Faridpur's Sadar upazila last week.

The district police said the detainee, Md Uzzal Khan, 38, confessed during interrogation to killing Jahanara Begum, 30, and her daughter Samia after luring the woman to Faridpur with a promise of marriage.

The information was disclosed at a press conference held at Kotwali Police Station today (17 May).

Faridpur Additional Superintendent of Police (Finance and Administration) Fatema Islam said the bodies of Jahanara, a resident of Goalanda in Rajbari district, and her daughter were recovered on Wednesday (14 May) from beside a pond in the Kalitala area of Char Madhabdia union, where they had been buried.

Following the recovery, the victim's father, Md Lalon Mollah, filed a murder case with Kotwali Police Station.

During the investigation, police detained Uzzal from the Bogartila area of Goalanda using information technology support, officials said.

According to police, Uzzal told investigators that he met Jahanara while working at a brick kiln in Aminbazar in Dhaka, where a relationship developed between them.

Police said he later brought Jahanara to Faridpur on the promise of marriage.

According to the police account, the killings took place on the night of 4 May at a secluded thatched hut in the Kalitala area of Char Madhabdia union.

Police said Uzzal allegedly strangled Jahanara to death following an argument and later killed her daughter Samia, who was present at the scene.

Investigators said the accused later dug separate graves beside the hut and buried the bodies.

Police recovered several items from the scene, including clothing belonging to the victims, the accused's mobile phone and the spade used to bury the bodies.

Earlier, on Wednesday, locals informed police after noticing a dog digging soil beside a banana grove in the area.

According to police and local sources, a local woman became suspicious after detecting a foul smell and spotting part of a human body protruding from the ground. Police later recovered the half-decomposed bodies from the site.

The victim's husband, Amjad Hossain, told police that Jahanara and Samia had gone to a relative's house in the Char Daulatdia Hat area on 4 May and had remained missing since then.