Teen nephew held for brutal murder in Shewrapara

Staff Reporter :

Police have arrested a 14-year-old boy for the brutal double murder of his two aunts in the Shewrapara area of Dhaka, a crime that has shocked the local community.

The boy, identified as Rabbani Khan alias Taj, was apprehended on Sunday from his maternal grandfather’s residence in Ashiar Gagan, Jhalakathi Sadar, following a tip-off. The arrest was confirmed by Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Joint Commissioner of Detective Branch (DB), Nasirul Islam, at a press briefing on Monday.

The victims, Mariam Begum and Sufia Begum, were reportedly killed in their home in West Shewrapara under Mirpur Police Station on the afternoon of May 9. According to police, Taj had gone to the victims’ house under the pretext of visiting his aunt and was received warmly.

While Mariam was preparing lemon juice and Sufia was cleaning utensils on the veranda, Taj allegedly stole Tk 3,000 from a wallet in the room. When Mariam caught him red-handed and reprimanded him, he stabbed her in the abdomen with a lemon-cutting knife. As she resisted, he continued to stab her. Hearing her cries, Sufia rushed in but was also stabbed.

In a chilling escalation, Taj reportedly took a kitchen pestle and bludgeoned both women on the head multiple times, killing them on the spot.

He then washed himself in the bathroom, changed into his cousin’s jeans and T-shirt, and locked the flat from the outside before fleeing the scene. On his way back to Shanir Akhra, he discarded the house keys, cap, and bloodstained money. Later, at a shopping centre, he changed back into his own clothes and threw away the bloodied garments and his shoes.

Remarkably, Taj attended the funeral of one of the victims the next day in Jhalakathi, attempting to maintain an appearance of innocence. However, detectives, after analyzing CCTV footage of the Shewrapara building, identified him as a suspect and tracked his movements.

During interrogation, Taj reportedly confessed to committing the murders to fund the purchase of a bicycle. Police are also investigating whether he was under the influence of drugs or acted under someone’s coercion.

Law enforcers have since recovered the bloodstained clothes from a sewer near the shopping centre and his discarded shoes from an abandoned building.

The investigation is ongoing as police try to understand the full motive and psychological state of the minor accused.