A Dhaka court on Sunday placed Oishee Rahman, daughter of slain Special Branch inspector Mahfuzur Rahman, and two others on five days’ police remand in connection with their alleged involvement with the killing of the girl’s parents.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mizanur Rahman passed the order after Paltan police station’s Sub-Inspector Md Shahidullah Pradhan sought 10 days’ remand for Oishee, their domestic help Khadiza Khatun Sumi, 15, and Oishee’s boyfriend Mizanur Rahman Rony, 25.
Oishee’s lawyer Prakash Ranjan Biswas filed a bail petition for the three on grounds that the accused were minors and prayed for rejection of the remand prayer. He also urged the court to form a juvenile delinquent court and said they were the victims of the circumstances.
Police earlier said Oishee was 16 years old, but the remand prayer on Sunday mentioned her age to be 18.
The lawyer said this was a symptom of degradation of social values, so they needed to be tried in a juvenile court as per the Children Act 1974.
SB inspector Mahfuzur Rahman, 48, and his wife Swapna Rahman, 40, were found dead in their Chamelibagh flat on Friday afternoon. Oishee, an O level student, along with their domestic help Sumi had gone missing following the murder.
Police suspected the killing had taken place early Thursday and the couple had been stabbed to death after being sedated on Wednesday night.
Mahfuz’s brother Moshiur Rahman filed the case.
The Detective Branch of police on Sunday produced Oishee, Sumi and Rony before the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s court at 2:30pm.
Crowds thronged the court area to catch a glimpse of Oishee.
SI Shahidullah, who is investigating the murder, told the court on Sunday that the three needed to be remanded to find out other clues regarding the murder and the mastermind, and the sources of drugs.
He submitted a forwarding report to the court, which said the primary investigation had shown that Oishee along with other associates had committed the murder.
“During the investigation, it was also found that Oishee is a drug addict and it is very important to find out the source of the drugs [she uses],” it said. During the remand, the law enforcers will try to find out the motive behind the killing and who aided Oishee in the murder.
A source with the detectives said during primary interrogation Oishee had told investigators that her parents had confined her in the house as she used to mix with some Yaba addict friends. The tough measures had made her revengeful and she along with her friends had planned to kill her parents.
At a press briefing on Sunday, DB Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam claimed that the killing was a sign of Oishee’s outrage on her parents. “She herself stabbed her parents while Rony, two other friends and the domestic help helped her,” he said.
The DB so far held seven persons, including Oishee, and was looking for two more teenagers who it believed had been present during the killing.
Monirul said Oishee’s friends had visited the house on Wednesday morning as part of their plan, but they had left within hours. Oishee had bought a knife a few days ago and hid it in the house.
“The killing took place around 2am Wednesday. We are trying to distinguish everyone’s role in the incident,” he said.
According to the detectives, Oishee and Sumi mixed sedatives in Swapna’s coffee on Wednesday evening and in that of Mahfuz after he had come home late at night. After the killing, Sumi helped the alleged killers move the bodies to the bathroom and wrap them in a bed sheet.
Monirul said they had recovered two knives, including the one Oishe had bought, from the flat.
Oishee surrendered to Paltan police around 2:30pm on Saturday and was then taken to the DB office on Minto Road. The DB later detained domestic help Sumi and Rony. They also picked up three of Oishee’s friends for interrogation.
The police also interrogated security guards Mohammad Motaleb and Mohammad Shaheen of the Chamelibagh building where Oishee lived with her family, and its manager Jahangir Alam, Oishee’s uncles Iftekharul Alam and Rabiul Alam, and the auto-rickshaw driver Oishee had hired for the full day on Thursday.