Mahfuz, one of the accused in the case filed over the January 16 killing of five members of a family in Narayanganj’s Baburail, confessed to the murders in court yesterday, describing how it was an act of a desire for revenge.
He said his rage over his failure to be in a relationship with his maternal aunt led to the vicious incident.
He gave the confessional statement under Section 164 in the court of Narayanganj Senior Judicial Magistrate Saiduzzaman Sharif in the morning.
Sub-Inspector Abul Khayer of the Detective Branch of police, who is investigating the case, said Mahfuz in court gave a detailed account of how and why he took the lives of the five people.
Khandaker Mahiduddin, superintendent of police in Narayanganj, told a press briefing at his office at noon that Mahfuz killed the five people as he became infuriated after failing to establish an unwanted relationship with his aunt Lamia.
Describing the incident, Mahiduddin said: “Mahfuz entered the flat before the evening on January 15 and hid under the bed in Lamia’s room. Taslima’s brother Morshedul Mosharraf was in the house on that day as neither Taslima’s husband Shafiqul Islam nor Lamia’s husband Shariful Islam was there. But at night, Lamia, instead of her bed, slept on Taslima’s bed after watching TV. It was Mosharraf who slept on Taslima’s bed.
“At around 3am, Mahfuz used a kitchen tool to strike Mosharraf in the head, killing him in sleep. He killed Taslima around two hours later and kept the body in Lamia’s room. After a while, he tussled with Lamia and attempted to choke her to death. Lamia reached for the kitchen tool that was used to kill Mosharraf and threw it at Mahfuz, but it missed the target and hit Taslima’s daughter Sumaiya instead, killing her instantly. Lamia died after some time.”
The superintendent of police continued: “Taslima’s son Shanto went to school in the morning but returned home around 7:15am. Mahfuz held him and hit him hard against the wall before strangling him to death. Then he got out of the flat, locked it and fled before ditching the key in the water tank of the house. Police have recovered the key and the kitchen utensil used in the murders.”
The case was filed with Narayanganj Sadar police station on January 17 by Taslima’s husband Shafiqul, who named Mahfuz as a suspect among two others. The case was transferred to be investigated by the Detective Branch on that day.