Suspect killed Ramisa, mutilated body to dispose of remains, evidence of sexual assault: Police

The main accused, arrested over the brutal murder of Ramisa Akter in Dhaka's Pallabi, dismembered the eight-year-old's head and a hand in a bid to dispose of the child's body and destroy evidence of rape after killing her, police suspect.

Police arrested Sohel Rana, 30, from Narayanganj's Fatullah following a seven-hour manhunt yesterday (19 May), while his wife, Swapna Khatun, 26, was detained from the crime scene earlier that morning.

Briefing reporters at Pallabi Police Station late last night, Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Additional Commissioner (Crime and Operations) SN Nazrul Islam said that initial forensic assumptions indicate the child suffered a sexual assault in the bathroom of Rana and Swapna's flat before being killed by Rana.

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Ramisa's beheaded body was found yesterday morning inside the accused couple's flat on the third floor of a five-storey building adjacent to Millat Camp in Pallabi Section 11. Ramisa's family live in the adjacent flat.

According to DMP official Nazrul, Rana planned to dispose of the child's body after killing her to avoid detection by her family following the suspected sexual assault. He then severed the child's head and began cutting her hands into pieces to easily pack and dispose of the remains.

The grim plot was foiled at around 10:30am when Ramisa's mother noticed one of her daughter's shoes discarded outside the door of Rana's flat while searching for her.

Finding the door locked from the inside, the mother grew suspicious and raised an alarm, drawing a crowd of locals. As the community attempted to force entry, Rana managed to escape by cutting through the iron window grilles, leaving his wife behind inside the flat where the headless torso was discovered shortly after.

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Citing initial interrogations, the DMP official noted that the prime accused exhibits perverted and distorted sexual tendencies, with his wife indicating he regularly subjected her to physical abuse.

While Swapna initially claimed she took a sleeping pill and was asleep during the murder, investigators have collected extensive physical evidence from the bathroom and forwarded it to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to conclusively map out the depth of the assault, said Nazrul.

Police records further revealed that Rana is also an accused in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act in Natore.

Disclaimer: This story has been refiled with the latest information in focus.