Missing child Muntaha found dead in Sylhet canal

A child who had been missing for seven days has been found dead in a canal near her home in Kanaighat upazila of Sylhet.

Police recovered the body around 3:00 am on Sunday with a rope tied around her neck, said Abdul Awal, chief of Kanaighat Police Station.

The victim, six-year-old Muntaha Akter Jerin, was the daughter of Shamim Ahmed from Biradal village, reports bdnews24.com.

Shamim said that on Nov 3, Muntaha had returned home with him from a local religious event. Later, she went out to play with children from the neighbourhood.

When she didn’t return home by the afternoon, they began searching for her, but to no avail.

Shamim then filed a General Diary (GD) at Kanaighat Police Station.

The news of Muntaha’s disappearance spread rapidly on social media, prompting many to appeal for her safe return. Some expatriates even offered a reward for information about her whereabouts.

Following the recovery of the body, Awal said that three suspects had been detained. They are Muntaha’s neighbour Marjia Akter, Marjia's mother Alifjan, and her grandmother Kutubjan.

“It appears Muntaha was abducted on Nov 3. Marjia and her mother Alifjan allegedly strangled her the same day and buried her body in the muddy bank of a canal near their house,” said Awal.

In the wee hours of Sunday, locals saw Alifjan trying to move the body from the canal. She was reportedly attempting to take it to a nearby pond to hide evidence of the crime.

Locals immediately alerted the police, who then recovered the body.

“Marjia was initially detained around midnight over the suspected link to the disappearance. She was brought in for questioning, but she provided no information and even smiled while responding casually.”

“After we found the body, she was formally taken into custody.”

Alifjan, known locally as an alms seeker, is still under investigation. The motive behind Muntaha’s murder remains unclear, according to the police.

After the body was found, angry locals set fire to Marjia’s home.

“On the day of the incident, Muntaha was playing at my house. We were hopeful she would be found alive. We never imagined she would be killed and her body found so close by,” local resident Abdul Wahid said.

He called for the harshest punishment for those responsible for the crime.