A Dhaka court on Monday placed three people on three days’ remand for questioning over the death of 15-year-old house help Mim Akter, whose body was allegedly left outside the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Kamal Uddin passed the order after Shahbagh police sought seven days’ remand for the accused.
The accused are Faisal Ahmed, 35, head of the household where Mim worked; his wife Rahema Khatun Reshma, 29; and his father-in-law A B M Abdur Razzak, 47.
Shah Alam, sub-inspector of the prosecution department, confirmed the remand order.
The three have been accused in a murder case filed over Mim’s death. The accused, however, have claimed that she died by suicide.
According to the case documents, Mim had been workingr at Faisal’s house for about a year. Her family alleged that she had been subjected to physical and mental abuse since she started working there.
After Mim called her family and spoke in a tearful voice about the alleged abuse, her family decided to bring her home.
Police said the accused allegedly took Mim’s body to DMCH on August 12, left it outside the emergency department as an unidentified body and fled.
The following day, Faisal allegedly called Mim’s family and told them that she had stolen money and valuables from the house and fled with another boy.
On August 17, members of Mim’s family went to the accused’s house looking for her but were allegedly abused and driven away.
On August 20, after receiving information about the unidentified body, Mim’s family went to Shahbag Police Station and, with police assistance, identified it at the DMCH morgue.
Police later identified Mim by analyzing technological data and CCTV footage.
Mim was the daughter of Fazlu Mia from the Basudev Bazar area of Comilla. Her mother filed a murder case with Shahbagh Police Station on August 21.
Police said the accused had left their long-time residence in the Siddhirganj police station area of Narayanganj and gone into hiding in Demra following the incident.
They were arrested during a raid in the Bamaile area of Demra on the night of August 20. A court sent them to jail the following day.
On August 24, Shahbagh police Sub-Inspector and case investigation officer Mahfuza Akter sought seven days’ remand for the three accused. The court fixed Monday for the hearing.
During the hearing, Advocate Ilias Kanchan, representing the accused, opposed the remand plea and requested that they instead be questioned at the jail gate.
“The victim committed suicide. They took the body to Dhaka Medical and left it there. That is their crime. And Faisal’s father-in-law Abdur Razzak knew nothing about the incident. He was also arrested,” he said.
The judge asked about Mim’s relationship with the accused.
“She was a domestic worker at Faisal’s house,” the lawyer replied.
Kanchan then claimed that he had personally made inquiries and learned that Mim had a dispute with her family and that she died by suicide because of the dispute.
The judge asked whether the body had been recovered from the house.
“No, from the medical. She was taken to Dhaka Medical,” the lawyer replied.
The court subsequently ordered three days’ remand for each of the accused.
When Reshma was brought before the court, she also claimed that Mim had died by suicide.
“She hanged herself from the fan and committed suicide,” Reshma said.
Faisal’s brother S M Sayem, a doctor, also claimed that Mim had been found hanging from a ceiling fan at the house.
“The incident happened in the morning. The girl was hanging from the fan. Saliva was coming from her mouth. She had urinated. But her feet were moving a little. My brother saw this,” he said.
Sayem claimed that Faisal later took Mim to hospital for treatment but left her body there because he feared getting into trouble.
“That was their big mistake. He thought they would get into trouble. That is why they left the body at the hospital and went away,” he said.
“I told my brother, I am a doctor, why didn’t you tell me about it? Now he is suffering,” Sayem added.
Relatives came to court after learning that the accused would be produced there. They also brought Faisal and Reshma’s four-year-old child, while some relatives were seen crying.