2 children found throat-slit, wife found hanging at army soldier’s home in Bogura

Police have recovered the bodies of two children with their throats slit and the hanging body of their mother from the home of an army soldier who had returned home on leave in Shahjahanpur upazila of Bogura. The bodies were discovered around 9:00 am today, Tuesday, from the bedroom of a house in Khalishakandi village of Khotta Para Union in the upazila.

The deceased woman has been identified as Sadia Mustarim, 28, daughter of Mofazzal Hossain of Bhandar Paikar village in Bogura Sadar upazila. Among Sadia’s two children, daughter Saifa was three years old, and son Saif was seven months old, reports the police.

After recovering, the bodies have been sent to the morgue of Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital in Bogura for postmortem. Police have taken Sadia’s husband, army soldier Shahadat Hossain, into custody for questioning. Shahadat serves in the army as a soldier posted in Mymensingh. He returned home on a one-week leave on 20 November.

Shahjahanpur Police Station’s officer-in-charge (OC) Shafiqul Islam said that Shahadat, who was on leave, was at home Monday night. This morning, police recovered the throat-slit bodies of the two children and the hanging body of his wife from their bedroom. During initial questioning, Shahadat stated that he had been sleeping in the adjoining room. He has been taken into custody for interrogation.

The OC added that a blood-stained Boti (cleaver) was recovered from the bed in the bedroom. According to initial investigation and statements from Shahadat and neighbours, the bedroom door was locked from the inside in the morning.

With the neighbours’ help, Shahadat broke down the door using a shovel to enter the room, where he found the bodies of his two children on the bed and his wife's body hanging from a noose. Shahadat has claimed to police that following a family dispute, his wife killed the two children by slitting their throats and then took her own life.