A 55-year-old fisherman was beaten to death following a confrontation over a land dispute in Patharghata upazila of Barguna.
The deceased was identified as Alam Fitter, son of the late Dhulu Majhi and a resident of the Char Lathimara area in Patharghata Sadar union.
He passed away at approximately 7:30am on Monday while undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
The incident occurred at around 1pm on Sunday in the Char Lathimara area. According to the victim’s daughter, Fatima, their family had been embroiled in a years-long dispute over a piece of land in front of their house with the families of Elias, Al Amin, Saiful, Belayet, Ibrahim, Abu Saleh, Nizam, and Yunus Boyati.
Fatima stated that on Sunday, her father plucked green coconuts from a tree on the disputed land to sell them and deposited the proceeds with a local individual.
The arrangement was that the rightful owner of the land, as determined through a traditional arbitration (salish), would receive the money. Upon seeing this, Elias reportedly began using offensive language towards Alam.
When Alam approached Elias to address the abuse, Elias allegedly struck him on the head with a stick (gaber kocha), causing him to collapse on the spot.
Local residents rescued Alam and initially rushed him to the Patharghata Health Complex. As his condition deteriorated, duty doctors referred him to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital in Barishal, and he was subsequently moved to Dhaka Medical College Hospital as his health declined further.
Enamul Haque, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Patharghata Police Station, confirmed the fatality and stated that police have already visited the scene of the incident. He added that while no written complaint has been filed with the police station as of yet, legal action will be taken following an investigation once a formal complaint is received.
