Police on Thursday morning recovered the body of a 15-year-old schoolgirl from a farmland in Lalmai upazila of Cumilla, hours after she sent a text message and her live location to her father asking him to rescue her.
The deceased was identified as Jannatul Tazmin, a Class 7 student at Farida Vidyayatan in Cumilla city. She was the daughter of Abdul Alim, hailing from Chhatiantala area under Churamankati union in Jashore Sadar upazila, and lived with her family in a rented residence in the Racecourse area of Cumilla city.
According to police and locals, her body was recovered around 8am on Thursday from a crop field adjacent to the Manumura jungle in Jagatpur Uttarpara under Perul Uttar union of Lalmai upazila.
A gamcha (traditional towel) was wrapped around her neck, and her face was pressed into the soil. An abandoned CNG-driven auto-rickshaw was also found near the scene, and police suspect she was strangled to death with the gamcha.
Tamal Banik, a local resident of Jagatpur village, said locals grew suspicious after noticing an abandoned CNG auto-rickshaw on the paved Kachikata-Harishchar Bazar road. Upon inspecting the surrounding area, they found the girl’s body lying beside an aisle in a crop field about 50 yards off the road.
The victim’s father, Abdul Alim, said that Jannat left home on Sunday, saying she was going to a female friend’s house. Over the following days, she maintained intermittent phone contact, claiming she was staying at her friend’s residence.
“At around 1:45am on Wednesday night, Jannat sent a text message alongside her live location, asking me to come and take her away,” Alim said, noting that he was asleep at the time. He saw the message after waking up at dawn, tracked the live location, and arrived at the spot only to find police recovering his daughter’s body.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (Sadar Dakshin Circle) Mostain Billa Ferdous said police investigations revealed that Jannat travelled to Brahmanbaria after leaving home on Sunday. She returned to Cumilla on Monday before leaving for Cox’s Bazar early that morning.
On Wednesday, she departed Cox’s Bazar at around 12:30pm and arrived in front of Noorjahan Hotel in Paduar Bazar, Cumilla, at approximately 10:30pm, after which all communication ceased.
The ASP added that a vanity bag and clothes were recovered from inside the abandoned auto-rickshaw, which her father identified as belonging to Jannat.
Lalmai Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mijanur Rahman said that the body was initially unidentified and estimated her age to be around 15 years. The body is being sent to Cumilla Medical College Hospital for an autopsy to ascertain the exact cause of death, while police continue investigations to identify and arrest those involved.
Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime), Cumilla, Pankaj Barua confirmed that the body was handed over to relatives following the autopsy. He added that police drives are currently underway using information technology to trace and arrest the perpetrators.
