A young man has been accused of killing his mother and his six-month-old niece in Debidwar, Cumilla, in a case arising from long-standing pain in his leg and from being prevented from taking his own life. His sister-in-law was seriously injured in the incident. It happened at around 8:30am on Monday in the south para of Barshalghar village in Barshalghar union of the upazila.
The dead are Mosa Firoza Begum, 62, wife of the late Farid Mia of that village and mother of the accused, Emon, and Emon’s six-month-old niece Israt. The injured woman, Emon’s sister-in-law Rabeya Begum, has been admitted to Cumilla Medical College Hospital in a critical condition.
Talking to police and local residents established that Emon suffered a serious injury to his leg while playing football about two years ago, damaging the ligaments. He had been unable to move about normally since then. Alongside treatment, he underwent two operations on the leg. Even so he continued to suffer pain in the leg and difficulty in moving.
Local people said Emon had broken down mentally as the pain in his leg increased recently. When he attempted to take his own life on Sunday night, Mosa Firoza Begum and his sister-in-law Rabeya Begum stopped him.
Police said that in consequence of this, Emon became involved in an argument with his mother and sister-in-law on Monday morning. At one point he attacked Mosa Firoza Begum with a sharp machete that was in the house, injuring her. It is alleged that he then picked up the six-month-old child Israt, who was with her grandmother, and dashed her to the ground. His sister-in-law Rabeya Begum was also beaten when she came forward to save them.
Hearing the screams, local people went to the scene and took all three to Debidwar Upazila Health Complex. The doctor on duty there declared Firoza Begum and the child Israt dead. The critically injured Rabeya Begum was sent to Cumilla Medical College Hospital for advanced treatment.
After the incident local people detained Emon and informed the police, who then went and took him into custody.
Debidwar police station’s officer-in-charge, Md Moniruzzaman, confirmed the incident.