Property disputes between blood relations are not uncommon in Bangladesh.
But it reached a new low on Wednesday when an 88-year-old man's burial was delayed by over 27 hours as his five children slugged it out over the partition of their ancestral land in Dakkhin Pachuria Ambalpur village of Debgram Union under Goalanda upazila, Rajbari.
Yasin Molla, a farmer of the village, died at a hospital on Tuesday. His children brought their dead father back home that day but soon started fighting over their family property and wealth as the body lay outside.
Locals soon alerted the union chairman and all the children -- Bablu, Fulbaru, Rabeya, Mamtaz and Rahman -- were called to the chairman’s house on Wednesday.
After discussions, a settlement was reached. But the burial got delayed over allegations of foul play. The body was taken to the Rajbari Hospital morgue around 2pm on Wednesday for an autopsy.
Finally, after 27 hours, Yasin Molla was laid to eternal rest.
According to the other four children, Yasin lived with his youngest son Rahman and Rahman allegedly had forced his father to bequeath the entire family property in his name.
A case was already filed at Rajbari district court, and Yasin and his five children were all supposed to appear before the judge on Monday.
However, Yasin fell sick on Monday and could not appear before the court, prompting the other children to level allegations of foul play against Rahman. They alleged that Rahman gave sedatives to their father.
However, Rahman refuted the allegations. “On Friday, my father fell sick and I took him to a private clinic where doctors prescribed some tests and medicines. On Tuesday, my father’s condition deteriorated and the authorities of Goalanda Health Complex declared him dead on arrival."
Debgram Union Chairman Hafizul Islam said: “The five children have been locked in the property dispute for long."
Mizanur Rahman Akond, sub-inspector at Goalanda ghat police station, said the body was taken to the local hospital morgue for an autopsy before the burial after they received a complaint of foul play.