Mother and Daughter Murdered in Mohammadpur: Police Search for Housemaid

Police recovered the bodies of a mother and daughter from a flat on the seventh floor of a residential building on Shahjahan Road in Mohammadpur, Dhaka. Investigators suspect that a recently hired housemaid may have been involved in the killings, which occurred on Monday morning.

Authorities said the deceased housewife, Laila Afroze (48), and her only teenage daughter, Nafisa Binte Aziz (15), had been living in the flat for a long time. The head of the family, Azizul Islam, a school teacher in Uttara, went to work as usual in the morning. After finishing school exams and returning home, he found the flat door open. Entering the drawing room, he discovered his wife and daughter gravely injured. Neighbours helped rush them to hospital, but doctors declared Nafisa dead. Later, police recovered Laila’s body. Their ancestral home is in Natore district. They resided on the seventh floor of a residential building opposite Residential Model School and College on Shahjahan Road.

Analysis of several CCTV cameras showed a young woman in a burqa entering the building at 7:51am. The housemaid, named Ayesha, had been employed just four days earlier. At 9:36am, the same woman was seen leaving dressed in a school uniform belonging to the deceased Nafisa, who was a ninth-grade student at Mohammadpur Preparatory School. She carried a bag and wore a mask, and the security guard did not recognise her as she passed through the gate.

According to investigators at the scene, there were blood stains at the entrance and inside the flat, and furniture was overturned. Cupboards and bags had been ransacked. Evidence of a struggle was found, and forensic experts collected two sharp knives from the bathroom, which were sent for examination.

Investigators said that after killing Laila Afroze, the daughter, Nafisa, may have tried to use the intercom to call the security guard but could not because the line was open. It appears the maid killed her methodically, used the bathroom to clean herself, and then left wearing Nafisa’s school uniform.

Azizul Islam said the maid, who came through the doorman seeking work, was interviewed by his wife and employed four days earlier. She claimed to have no family and had previously worked elsewhere. She provided no identity papers, though she said her name was Ayesha. She told the family she was from Rangpur and lived with her uncle and aunt at Geneva Camp, adding that her parents had died in a fire and she had burn scars.

Following the incident, security guard Khalek was taken into police custody for questioning. He said he allowed the woman to enter in a burqa in the morning and did not recognise her later in a mask.

Tejgaon Deputy Commissioner Ibn-e-Mizan told Ganodesh, “The footage shows only one person entering and leaving. We are matching her movements and times and continuing the investigation. A special team is working to locate and arrest the absconding housemaid, and DB police are involved. We are also checking if anything was stolen and the motive behind the murders.”

The mother and daughter’s bodies have been sent to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College for post-mortem. Police said the investigation will reveal if anyone else was involved, but the current focus is on apprehending the fleeing housemaid.

Khaborwala/SS