A woman has died in hospital after her husband allegedly poured petrol on her and set her on fire at her parents’ home in Ashuganj, Brahmanbaria, over a family dispute. The husband, Jahangir Mia, is accused. The woman, Ikhtara Sarkar, 30, died while undergoing treatment.
She died at around 7:30am on Wednesday (November 4) at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka. The incident took place before dawn last Saturday at the Sarkar home in the Charcharatala area of the upazila.
Ikhtara was the daughter of Idon Sarkar of the area. Her husband Jahangir is from Raipura upazila of Narsingdi. They married about 15 years ago and have two daughters and a son.
Family members allege that Jahangir became addicted to drugs about a year ago. Besides family quarrels over this, he often beat his wife. About a month and a half ago, after being beaten, Ikhtara went to her father’s home with their two-year-old son.
Relatives claim that on Friday, the day before the incident, Jahangir came to his in-laws’ home to take the son. During an argument with his wife he threatened to pour petrol on her and burn her. The next morning, when Ikhtara’s mother left the room before dawn to say the Fajr prayer, Jahangir took the chance to enter, poured petrol on Ikhtara as she slept in bed and set her on fire. Hearing her screams, relatives rushed in and rescued her with severe burns.
About 50 percent of Ikhtara’s body, including her neck and throat, was burnt. She was then admitted to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka, where she died on Wednesday morning.
Ashuganj police station officer-in-charge Md Anisur Rahman confirmed the death. “The accused husband has been absconding since the incident. Police are conducting drives to arrest him,” he said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report