Police have recovered the body of a child domestic worker from the bathroom of an officers’ quarters at the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka.
The deceased child is Bibi Halima, aged 11. Her home is at Kamrangirchar Bhandariar Mor.
The body was recovered around 3pm on Monday from a house in the BGB headquarters officer’s quarters. Later, police sent the body to Dhaka Medical College morgue for autopsy.
Sub-Inspector (SI) Maruf Hasan of New Market Thana informed that the body was recovered with an orna (scarf) tied around a clothes hanger in the bathroom.
SI Maruf stated that the child had been working for the past six months at the residence of Shariful Islam, a Liaison Officer at BGB headquarters, and his wife, Dr. Tunazona Binte Mahbub.
He said, “At the time of the incident, both of them were outside the house. Their only child was at home. The house runner, Md. Salauddin, returned home after shopping. Upon arrival, he could not find Bibi Halima. Later, he saw that the bathroom door was locked from inside. After calling out repeatedly with no response, he informed the police station.”
The SI informed that Dr. Tunazona, the homeowner, told police that she had last spoken with Bibi Halima around 12:00 PM.
Halima’s body has been kept at the morgue for autopsy. The actual cause of death will be known upon receiving the post-mortem report.
Shariful Islam, Public Relations Officer of the Border Guard Bangladesh, stated, “Due to work, both my wife and I were busy at our workplaces. For that reason, about 5-6 months ago, a teenage girl was hired at the house, whose sole responsibility was to look after our 11-month-old child.”
He also claimed that no other household tasks were assigned to her.
He informed that, like every day on the day of the incident, the couple left the child with the teenager and went to their workplaces. Around noon, seeing the child playing alone downstairs, building residents entered their flat and began searching for the domestic worker. At that time, the bathroom door was found locked from inside.
Upon receiving the news, Shariful Islam and his wife quickly returned home. Later, after informing the police, the bathroom door was broken open, and the hanging body of the domestic worker was recovered.
