Police recovered the bodies of a married couple from a locked room in Ashulia, Savar, along with a dead foetus found at the scene. Investigators suspect that the deaths may have resulted from a homicide, although the precise circumstances will depend on the forensic examination and investigation.
The bodies were recovered at around 2.30am on Friday from a room on the second floor of a four-storey building in the Madhya Jamgora area of Ashulia. The deceased were identified as Nazma Akter, 33, from Boromagura Pakpara in Nawabganj police station area of Dinajpur, and her husband, Alamgir Hossain, 42, from the Nisha Palashbari area.
According to police and several residents, the couple rented the room on 9 August. The door had reportedly remained locked for about three days before the bodies were discovered. On Friday, other tenants began noticing a strong foul smell coming from inside the room and informed the building owner.
Initially, the owner suspected that a dead cat might have been responsible for the smell. As the odour became increasingly strong, however, the owner and several tenants broke open the lock and entered the room late on Friday night. They found Nazma and Alamgir lying dead on the bed. A dead foetus was also found nearby. Police were subsequently informed.
Residents said Nazma had been pregnant when the couple moved into the room. She worked at a garment factory in the local area, while Alamgir earned a living as a hawker.
Nazma’s sister, Shapla Begum, said she had last seen her sister on Thursday afternoon. The two sisters reportedly worked at the same factory in Jamgora. When Nazma failed to report for work on Friday and again on Saturday, Shapla initially thought she might have fallen ill because of her pregnancy.
Shapla alleged that her sister and brother-in-law had been strangled. She also believed that Nazma’s pregnancy had ended around the time of the incident, resulting in the foetus being expelled.
Ashulia police station officer-in-charge Mohammad Tarikul Islam said the foetus was believed to have been expelled following a miscarriage either before or after the woman’s death. Police estimated that the foetus was around five months old.
The officer said the condition of the bodies, the circumstances inside the room and other evidence collected from the scene had led investigators to suspect a possible killing. Police are examining the available evidence to establish how the couple died and whether the deaths were connected to the loss of the pregnancy.
The bodies and foetus are expected to undergo post-mortem and forensic examinations, which could provide crucial evidence regarding the cause and timing of death. Investigators are also likely to examine the couple’s recent movements, contacts and activities as they work to determine what happened inside the locked room.
At this stage, police have not publicly established a motive or identified any suspect. The case remains under investigation, and the final cause of death will depend on forensic findings and other evidence gathered during the inquiry.
