Police recovered the body of a seven-year-old girl stuffed in a sack in Cox’s Bazar’s Teknaf upazila, nine hours after she went missing while playing.
The deceased, Tahmina Akter, was the daughter of Abdul Jalil from the Dhangor Para area of Teknaf’s Sabrang union and a first-grade student at a local Nurani Madrasa, said Teknaf police station officer-in-charge (OC) Muhammad Giyas Uddin.
Based on the marks on her neck, police suspect that she was strangled to death and her body was later concealed in the sack by the perpetrator(s).
“The child returned home after her madrasa classes ended at 11am. Later, she went out to play with other children from the neighbourhood,” Giyas Uddin said, quoting the victim’s family and locals.
“When she didn’t come back in the afternoon, her family started searching for her in nearby areas. As they failed to trace her, they started announcing her disappearance using a mike on a vehicle,” he added.
“Finally, at around 9pm, locals noticed a suspicious sack lying beside a road in Shah Porir Dwip’s Dhangor Para area. When they opened the sack, they found the girl’s body and informed the police. We retrieved the body after reaching the scene,” said the OC.
“There were marks on her neck, but no other injuries were found on her body, leading us to believe she was strangled,” he added.
“Her family members said they had no known enemies. We are investigating to identify the perpetrators and the motive behind this brutal killing,” Giyas Uddin said.
The body has been sent to Cox’s Bazar district sadar hospital morgue for an autopsy, he added.
