Police say they are still without specific information on the killer of a mother and daughter who were found with their throats slit inside their flat in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Mohammadpur Zone Additional Commissioner Md Juel Rana told reporters on Tuesday that the investigation is underway but the identity of the assailant remains unknown.
The murders took place on Monday morning in a seventh-floor flat of a residential building on Shahjahan Road, where 48-year-old Laila Afroz and her 15-year-old daughter, Nafisa Lawal binte Aziz, were discovered dead.
CCTV footage from the building showed a woman in a burqa entering the lift with her face covered. Moments later, the same woman was seen leaving in a school uniform, carrying a bag and still keeping her face concealed. The building’s guard said the burqa-clad woman had gone to work on the seventh floor.
Juel Rana said the suspected domestic worker had identified herself only as Ayesha and provided no further details. He said the guard never saw her face because she kept it covered, leaving the CCTV footage ineffective in identifying her.
“For four days she entered the flat and worked there, yet no one knows anything about her. Even the homeowner does not know. Beyond the name Ayesha, the police have no specific information,” he said.
He said the killings highlighted the weakness of security systems in many of Dhaka’s residential buildings.
“Our doormen and security guards lack training. This woman passed through the guard with her face covered and he still did not see her. A stranger enters a building and neither the guard nor the CCTV captures her face — this should not happen,” he said.
He urged residents to record the name, address and a copy of the ID card of any unfamiliar visitor before allowing entry, saying such procedures would deter criminal behaviour.
He said police were working to identify and arrest the perpetrator but locals must also remain alert by submitting identification details of domestic workers and tenants to law enforcement agencies.
On the inquest findings, he said Laila Afroz had 30 injuries on her body and Nafisa had six. Laila died at the flat while her daughter was declared dead at the hospital.
Asked how one person could carry out both killings, Juel Rana said only the investigation could determine that and the autopsy report would clarify whether any other factors were involved.
He said samples of materials left behind by the suspect had been collected and preliminary investigative work was complete. He declined to disclose further details, citing the interests of the investigation.
