‘They were a perfect couple’

Family members of Superintendent of Police Babul Akhter and his slain wife Mahmuda Khanam Mitu described the two as a perfect couple. Mitu’s father Mosharraf Hossain, a former officer-in-charge, said he and Babul’s father, Sub-Inspector Abdul Wadud, were working at the same police station around 15 years ago and that is when a good relationship developed between them. Mosharraf first saw Babul at Wadud’s home in 2002 and was amazed by the young man’s sense of honesty and responsibility. He decided to marry Mitu off to Babul and Wadud also agreed to the proposal. Babul and Mitu tied the knot in 2002, and Mitu had completed her higher secondary studies at the time. Babul joined the police department after passing the civil service exam in 2005. Mosharraf later retired as officer-in-charge. On June 5, it came as a terrible shock for Mosharraf, who hails from Patuakhali and now lives in Dhaka’s Khilgaon, when he heard the news that Mitu had been shot and hacked to death in Chittagong.Family dismisses extramarital affair claimSome media reports yesterday claimed that the murder of Mitu was the result of an extramarital affair but Mosharraf strongly ruled it out, saying it was a completely fabricated and unacceptable piece of information. Babul’s brother Habibur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune Mitu had a very good relation not only with her husband but also with her in-laws. “Whenever they got time, they came to the village in Magura. It is beyond anyone’s imagination that Mitu could be killed over any extramarital affair,” he added. His another brother Shabu, a teacher at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, said: “I talked to Babul after he returned home today (Saturday) and he said police took him away to talk to him about matters related to the investigation into Mitu’s murder.” Babul’s sister-in-law Dr Shaila told the Dhaka Tribune Mitu’s family would have known first if there was any row between the couple. “We would have been the first to lodge a complaint if we suspected that Babul had killed Mitu. What the media reports said about Mitu’s extramarital affair is nothing but propaganda, and spreading such false information is not right." “The couple’s two children are with us and they are fine,” she added. Mitu’s aunt Mamtaz Begum said: “Mitu was happy in her married life. She was a pious woman and never talked to her husband in a loud voice." “Honestly speaking, in the last 14 years, we never heard that Mitu and Babul had quarreled even for once.” Mitu’s maternal uncle Tarikul Islam said: “Babul always maintains his honesty and duly carries out his responsibilities. We heard that he was after militant outfits. “Babul’s honesty brought Mitu and him together more than a decade ago. Now it appears that it is the honesty that has separated them,” he added.