A woman was found dead in her house in Sylhet city yesterday after spending years confined and isolated in the house because of her mentally deranged father.
Police broke into the house yesterday morning following a tip-off and recovered the body of Safia Khatun Koli, 37, said Gausul Hossain, OC at Airport police station.
Police initially suspect that Safia’s death was caused by mental illness, although family members and locals said her death was the result of the solitary confinement that her father, Qari Abdur Noor, imposed upon himself and his daughters, Safia and Afia Khatun Lucky, 34.
Safia’s body was sent to Osmani Medical College Hospital for autopsy, after which she was buried in a local graveyard. The autopsy report was still due when this report was filed.
A case of unnatural death was filed with Airport police station in this regard, the OC said.
A tale of living nightmare
Talking to several local sources and extended family members, it was found that Qari Abdur Noor had imposed a life of complete isolation from society upon his family.
Noor had lived abroad for 28 years before he returned home in 1998. The change in his mentality was alarming, a family member said.
Noor forced his family into living a life detached from the outside world, confined to their home in the city’s Housing Estate area.
He covered all the walls in the house with English and Arabic writings, locals said. When his brothers tried to talk him out of living such an abnormal lifestyle, he once chased them away with knives.
When his wife died in 2009, he arranged her funeral and burial all by himself and did not let any of their family members take part in it.
Since then, he forced his daughters out of school – Safia finished Class XI, Afia Class IX – and kept them under strict supervision, apparently appealing to religious grounds.
The sisters were not even allowed to see each other; only Noor had access to their rooms. He gave them food when he wanted. Family members were not allowed to visit. Power, water and gas lines were disconnected.
When Safia’s dead body was found, witnesses said it was evident that she had been starved.
“Both Safia and Afia were found wearing rags. There were gaping wounds in Safia’s leg. Her nails were at least 1-1.5 inches long,” said a witness, seeking anonymity.
Locals said although they were aware of the situation, they only learnt yesterday about the extent of horror the family lived in.
Neighbours have intervened once before; with the help of police, they rescued Noor and his daughters in 2011 and sent them to Osmani Medical College Hospital. The trio received treatment for a few days before returning home – and going back to the same life.
“They must have suffered a huge traumatic event, which caused their abnormal mental state. This is why they chose to live in captivity. They will need long-term treatment to recover,” said Dr Masudur Rahman at the hospital.
When journalists confronted him at hospital, Noor tried to avoid their questions and said, in English: “My mum knows everything.” When asked who his mother was, he said Queen Elizabeth II. He then refused to talk to press, saying he would only talk to the law enforcers.
No legal action taken yet
Strangely enough, despite many people claiming to have known what was going on, no one ever attempted to take legal action to get help to the mentally ill father and his daughters.
However, Noor’s family informed local Ward Councillor Rezaul Hasan Kayes Lodi a year ago about the situation.
“I have known about this situation. It is unfortunate and inhumane. Noor lost his sanity, that is why he did this to his family,” he said. l