A seven-year-old girl who went missing in Jamalpur’s Madarganj Upazila has been found dead, with her body buried inside a neighbour’s house three days after she disappeared.
The body of Mariam Akter was recovered from a house in the Charlotabor area at around 1am on Saturday, according to Snehashish Roy, officer-in-charge of Madarganj Model Police Station.
Mariam was the daughter of Bahadur Ali, a resident of the same area. She was a first-grade pupil at Sidhuli Government Primary School.
According to local residents cited by police, Mariam went missing three days before her body was recovered. She had gone to school but did not return home. After the family realised that she was missing, they searched various places in an effort to locate her.
Despite the search, the family could not find any trace of the child during the following three days. The matter took a more serious turn on Saturday night when members of Mariam’s family reportedly found her body buried beneath the soil inside the house of a man named Jaminur. The house is located near the school.
Police were informed after the discovery and officers went to the scene. They recovered Mariam’s body from beneath the soil and took it to the police station as part of the investigation.
The circumstances surrounding the child’s death remain under investigation. Police have initially suspected that Mariam may have been killed before her body was buried in an attempt to conceal it. However, the authorities have not yet established how she died or who was responsible.
Officer-in-charge Snehashish Roy said the body had been recovered and taken to the police station. He also confirmed that two people had been detained in connection with the incident and that legal proceedings were under way.
The discovery has caused concern in the Charlotabor area, particularly because Mariam had disappeared after leaving for school and was later found buried inside a house close to the educational institution.
Police are now examining the circumstances of her disappearance and the events that led to the recovery of her body. The detained individuals are expected to be questioned as part of the investigation, while officers will also seek to establish whether others were involved.
At this stage, police have confirmed only the recovery of Mariam’s body and the detention of two people. The exact cause of death and the circumstances behind the alleged killing will become clearer as the investigation progresses.
