MADARIPUR — A 28-year-old woman was allegedly raped and killed in Madaripur’s Shibchar, while her one-year-old son was thrown into the Arial Khan River, police said Friday after arresting a man in connection with the case.
The victim, Shampa Khatun, was found dead in bushes near a madrasa in the Bakhrer Kandi area of Madbarchar Union on Wednesday. Her son, Abir, remains missing, and police are continuing a search for his body in the river.
Police identified the arrested suspect as Faruk Molla. Investigators said he admitted during preliminary questioning to involvement in Shampa’s killing and to throwing her son into the river.
Police said Shampa was raped before being killed and her body was abandoned at the secluded location. Faruk also admitted strangling Abir before throwing the child into the Arial Khan River. The child’s body has not been recovered.
Body found in bushes
Local residents spotted the body at about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in bushes near Khan Bari Darus Sunnah Islamia Madrasa in Bakhrer Kandi and alerted police.
Officers recovered the initially unidentified body and subsequently established that the victim was Shampa Khatun, daughter of Chamrul Islam of Atrika village in Lalpur upazila of Natore.
Shampa had married Shahabuddin Hawlader of the Bara Meher area of Madaripur about three years ago. They had a one-year-old son, Abir.
Her father said he learned of his daughter’s death through a village police member Wednesday afternoon and was also informed that his grandson was missing. He later traveled to Shibchar and filed a murder case with Shibchar Police Station on Aug. 20.
Police say suspect knew victim
According to investigators, Shampa became acquainted with Faruk at a Madaripur court while her husband was in jail in connection with a case.
Police allege Faruk later called Shampa to meet him and took her to the Bakhrer Kandi area. Investigators say she was raped and killed there and that her jewelry was taken before her body was abandoned.
Her infant son was with her at the time.
According to police, Faruk admitted during preliminary questioning that he threw Abir from the Arial Khan Bridge into the river. Police are continuing operations to recover the child’s body.
Jewelry and other evidence recovered
Following the murder case, a joint team of Shibchar police and RAB-8 launched an operation under the supervision of Shibchar Circle Assistant Superintendent of Police Md. Salah Uddin Quader.
Using information technology and intelligence, law enforcement officers conducted operations in the Shibchar and Rajair areas. Faruk was arrested in Rajair on Thursday night.
During a search of Faruk’s residence, investigators recovered a gold nose pin and silver necklace belonging to Shampa, along with a pair of shoes and her scarf, which police said had been burned in a stove.
Police said Faruk had also been arrested several months earlier in connection with an allegation of vehicle theft.
Quader said investigators had initially been dealing with a case in which neither the victim nor a suspect had been identified.
“It was a clueless murder case,” he said Friday while discussing the investigation. “Through information technology and intelligence activities, we were able to arrest the accused and recover evidence within a short time.”
Police are investigating whether anyone else was involved in the killing.
The search for Abir in the Arial Khan River remains underway.
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