Police have arrested the prime suspect in the murder of a seven-year-old girl, who was found with her throat slit from a remote hilly area of Sitakunda Botanical Garden and Eco Park in Chattogram.
Additional Superintendent of Police (Media) Rusel confirmed at a press briefing on Tuesday evening that the main accused, Babu Sheikh, has been taken into custody in connection with the case.
The victim, Jannatul Naima Ira, a resident of Sitakunda upazila, reportedly left home around 9am on the day of the incident and was allegedly abducted shortly afterward, according to her family.
On Sunday morning, workers engaged in renovation work on the Chandranath Temple road, first found her lying in a bloodied condition beside a hilly path about 500 meters from the Sahasradhara waterfall area inside the Botanical Garden and Eco Park.
The workers rescued her in a critically injured condition and took her first to Sitakunda Upazila Health Complex before she was transferred to Chattogram Medical College Hospital.
The girl underwent throat surgery on Sunday night and was later moved to the One-Stop Crisis Cell. As her condition worsened, she was moved to the ICU, where she succumbed to her injuries around 5:30am early Tuesday.
The victim’s uncle confirmed her death on Tuesday. Family members alleged that she had been raped and that her windpipe was slit.
Her mother, Rokeya Begum, filed a case with Sitakunda Police Station on Sunday night against unidentified individuals under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act and relevant sections of the Penal Code.
Following the child’s death, the case was converted into a murder case, said Officer-in-Charge Md Mohinul Islam.
Additional Superintendent of Police (Sitakunda Circle) Shakila Yasmin Suchona said multiple teams were formed immediately after the incident to collect evidence and analyse technical data. She assured that all those involved would be brought to justice.
The body has been kept at the morgue of Chattogram Medical College Hospital. An autopsy will be conducted after legal formalities are completed before burial arrangements proceed.
