A housewife died two days after her husband allegedly tortured her, chained her legs and tied her to a bed — and then sent a video of the abuse to her brother, asking him to take his sister away.
The deceased, Mukta Islam, was found hanging from a ceiling fan at her Khilkhet home last Thursday.
Her husband, Sohel Sikder, has been arrested in connection with the incident, while Mukta’s family has alleged that she was killed after the torture and that her body was hung to make her death appear otherwise.
Khilkhet police Sub-Inspector Rajib Bhowmik, also the investigating officer in the case, said evidence had been found that Mukta was beaten two days before her death.
“The cause of death will be known after the postmortem report,” he said.
Police have also recovered a roughly three-minute video of the alleged torture.
In the video, Mukta’s legs can be seen chained while she is tied to a bed and repeatedly beaten with a leather belt. Sohel can be heard threatening to beat her to death if she does not speak.
Mukta is heard telling him that she had done nothing wrong and that she loved him deeply.
Her two children were in the adjoining room during the incident and can be heard crying in the video. At one point, Mukta asks Sohel to let her put the children to sleep first, saying he could beat her afterward.
According to Mukta’s family, Sohel sent the video to her younger brother, Tanvir Rahman, along with a message asking him to take his sister away.
Relatives later went to the couple’s third-floor flat at House 39 on Road 5 in Khilkhet and found Mukta dead.
Tanvir subsequently filed a case with Khilkhet police as the plaintiff.
The family alleged that Sohel had asked Tanvir for Tk300,000 several months earlier and that Mukta was beaten when the payment was delayed.
They also alleged that the couple had been in conflict since their marriage and that Sohel subjected Mukta to abuse over suspicions of an extramarital affair and dowry demands.
Mukta was from Bakerganj, Barisal, while Sohel was also from the same area. They married through a family arrangement and later moved to Khilkhet.
Sohel initially ran a grocery shop before moving into the embroidery business. Family members said tensions between the couple increased as the business struggled.
Police said the investigation was ongoing and that they were gathering information about Sohel.