Police have recovered the bodies of a mother and her daughter, who had been missing for 21 days, from the flat of a home tutor in Keraniganj, Dhaka.
The deceased were class eight student Zobaida Rahman Fatema (14), and her mother Rokeya Rahman (32)
Authorities said the killings stemmed from a dispute over a loan installment.
Fatema’s father, Shaheen Ahmed, alleged the murders were also motivated by theft, noting that two gold chains and a pair of earrings belonging to the victims were missing.
Keraniganj Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge M. Saiful Alam said home tutor Mim Begum had taken a Tk1.5 lakh loan from an NGO, with Rokeya as the guarantor. When Mim failed to pay on time, pressure from the NGO led to a dispute between the women, which escalated to murder.
Four people were arrested: Mim Begum (24), her husband Humayun Mia (28), Mim’s under-aged sisters aged 15 and 11 years. Authorities said Mim and Nurjahan confessed to the killings.
Police said the suspects lived in the flat as if nothing had happened until the bodies were discovered. Mim’s husband, unaware of the murders, discovered one body while searching the flat for a foul odor, prompting police recovery.
According to Shaheen, on December 25, Fatema was strangled by Mim's 15-year-old sister during a dispute at the flat. Later, Rokeya was also killed by the two sisters. To mislead CCTV cameras, Mim's 15-year-old sister wore Fatema’s clothes when leaving the house. Fatema’s body was hidden in the bathroom false ceiling, and Rokeya’s in a box bed.
Shaheen criticized the police for delays and alleged harassment, claiming his requests to search the flat were ignored until the bodies were found.
The mother and daughter had been reported missing on December 25, with a general diary filed on December 27 (GD No. 1715) and a kidnapping case lodged on January 6.