A newly married housewife yesterday allegedly committed suicide by setting herself on fire in her house in the South Keraniganj area, in the outskirts of the capital. Irin Akther, 24, the housewife got married to Asaduzzaman Jhontu, 32, on November 14 this year, said her brother Md Rajib.
Only a week into the marriage, Asad started torturing Irin physically and tried to create pressure through the matchmaker on the family members so that she sought divorce, claiming that Irin’s character was not good, Rajib said.
“Irin informed us about the torture,” Rajib said. Asad made a phone call saying Irin tried to commit suicide.
“It is Asad who killed my sister. Now he is trying to stage a drama, saying my sister committed suicide,” he said.
Partha Sankar Paul, a surgeon at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said Irin died around 7:50pm.
Irin’s husband, Asaduzzman, a worker at a cloth shop at Alam Tower in the area, however, said he was not at his home during the incident.
“I went out of home to my workplace around 9 o’clock in the morning. One of our neighbours informed me that a fire broke out in my house and my wife was inside,” he said.
“With the help of neighbours, I rescued her and took to the hospital.”
Jamal Uddin Mir, officer-in-charge of South Keraniganj Police station, said they detained Asad, and were interrogating him.
The body was sent to DMCH morgue for an autopsy.
No case was lodged till filing of this report around 9:53pm.
