Rahima Begum, 52, of Khulna, who had been missing since August 27, was found dead in Mymensingh, her daughter has claimed. “I have just found my mother's body,” this is what Moriom Mannan, daughter of Rahima, wrote in a Facebook post around 11:30pm on Thursday.
However, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), Khulna's Daulatpur police station and Mymensingh police couldn’t confirm the matter. The PBI is investigating the case filed over the woman's disappearance.
Khulna Superintendent of Police Syed Mushfiqur Rahman of the agency said the investigation officer of the case spoke to Maryam. Moriom told them that her mother's body was recovered from the Phulpur area of Mymensingh.
Mymensingh Police said the body of a woman, aged about 32, was recovered from Phulpur on September 10 and was buried, said the officer. But Rahima Begum is around 52 years old, he added. “In all, police couldn’t identify the body recovered in Mymensingh.”
Moriom Mannan told the investigation officer she identified her mother's body by scrutinizing a photograph of the clothes she was wearing. Phulpur police station has collected the DNA samples of the recovered body.
The investigation officer asked Moriom to go to Phulpur police station on Saturday. There her DNA sample will be collected and matched with the DNA of the recovered body. “If the DNA matches it can be confirmed,” said SP Mushfiqur.
On August 27, Rahima went missing after she had stepped out to fetch water near her home in the Banikpara area of Doulatpara upazila in Khulna around 10pm. Her children found her sandals, scarf and the pitcher she was carrying from the spot.
The family first filed a complaint with the police, based on which an FIR was lodged by the cops against some people.
On September 13, after Rahima remained missing for 17 days and police failed to find her, her younger daughter Aduri Akter appealed to the Khulna court to transfer the case to the PBI, said Rahima’s elder daughter Moriom Mannan.
The same day the court ordered the police to hand over the case to the PBI.
So far, six people have been arrested in this case. They are Rahima’s second husband Belal Howladar, Mohiuddin, Palash, Jewel, Helal Sharif, and assistant engineer at Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) Golam Kibria.
As the case was investigated by the PBI, a remand appeal made by the police to interrogate Rahima’s second husband Belal remains pending for hearing, said police. Rahima's family resorted to sticking 'missing' posters in Khulna city in the hope they will get their mother back.
