A 40-year-old woman, the wife of an expatriate worker, was hacked to death by unknown assailants on the rooftop of her residence in Ashulia, situated on the outskirts of Dhaka. The deceased, identified as Roksana Begum, was discovered semi-nude on the roof of her family’s under-construction five-storey building in the Morichkata area of North Koltasuti, under Shimulia Union, late on Wednesday night.
Police officers retrieved the victim’s body from the scene and subsequently sent it to a local hospital morgue for an autopsy. Sub-Inspector Nur Amin of Ashulia Police Station confirmed the incident on Thursday morning, stating that an investigation into the homicide is currently underway.
Roksana Begum was the wife of Mokbul Hossain, a native of South Pakulla village in Kaliakair Upazila, Gazipur, who is currently employed in Dubai. For the past two months, Roksana had been residing on the third floor of their under-construction property alongside her daughter, Meem, and son, Alif.
According to family members, Roksana went up to the roof at approximately 7:30 pm on Wednesday to check the building’s water tank. When she failed to return after a considerable length of time, her family grew concerned and began searching the premises. Upon inspecting the rooftop, relatives discovered her lifeless body lying in a corner, stripped of her clothing and bearing extensive injuries inflicted by sharp weapons.
Hearing the distressed screams of her family, neighbours gathered at the premises and alerted the authorities. Officers from Ashulia Police Station alongside detectives from the Detective Branch (DB) arrived shortly afterwards, conducting preliminary investigations before taking the body into custody around 2:30 am.
Mo. Irak, the victim’s brother, revealed that he had spoken to Roksana over the telephone at around 7:00 pm, mere hours before receiving news of her death at 9:30 pm. Expressing profound grief and shock, he mentioned that his sister had no known rivalries or disputes with anyone, demanding the immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of those responsible.
Police confirmed that the body bore multiple deep hack wounds. Whilst the motive behind the gruesome killing remains unclear, law enforcement agencies have initiated a murder investigation and launched operations to track down and apprehend the perpetrators.
