Mohammadpur double murder: Domestic aide Ayesha remanded for 6 days, husband for 3

A Dhaka court has remanded domestic aid Ayesha Akhter for six days and her husband Rabbi for three days in connection with the murders of a mother and daughter in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur.

Police had sought a 10-day remand to question them in custody, reports bdnews24.com.

After hearing the remand petition filed by the investigation officer, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mahbub Alam issued the remand order.

State counsel Harunur Rashid confirmed this information.

Following the arrest of Ayesha in Dhaka's Mohammadpur, police say she had a history of theft while employed as a maid.

A general diary (GD) was previously filed at the police station in July over Ayesha’s stealing of Tk 8,000 from a residence on Mohammadpur’s Babar Road.

Within five months, she took on a new job as a household aide in a nearby area, and just four days into the job, the mother and daughter were brutally killed.

Although police named Ayesha as the prime suspect from the outset, officers could find no detailed information about her. During the four days she came to work, she kept her face covered, leaving no clear CCTV images.

The only identifiable clue was a burn mark on one side of her neck. Reviewing theft complaints lodged over the past year involving household aides, investigators discovered the July case. That lead helped them identify Ayesha and arrest her in Jhalakathi’s Nalchity.

The bodies of Laila Afroze, 48, and her 15-year-old daughter Nafisa Lawal Binte Aziz were discovered inside their seventh-floor flat on Shahjahan Road on Monday. Their throats were slit. Ayesha had started working as a maid at that house four days before the incident.

Police claim to have solved the murder mystery with Ayesha’s arrest from Nalchity on Wednesday at 12:30pm, stating that she killed the mother and daughter by stabbing them indiscriminately following an altercation over theft.

Providing details at a media briefing at the DMP Media Centre on Thursday, Additional Police Commissioner (Crime and Operations) SN Md Nazrul Islam said that no address or contact number for Ayesha was recorded when she began to work at the house. A lead from the previous GD suggested a household aide living in the Geneva Camp area.

He explained that after speaking with relevant individuals, they “verified and examined” the information received and were able to obtain a mobile number linked to Ayesha. "When contacted, the person using that number could not say when or who had used it. However, they mentioned that they had given the mobile to a younger brother named Rabbi to fix the display, which was broken a few days prior. They speculated that the SIM might have been used in Rabbi’s phone at that time."

“This is how Rabbi was identified. He revealed that his wife’s name is Ayesha, she works as a household aide, and she rents a home in the Geneva Camp. In this manner, the identity of the killer was confirmed within 24 hours of the incident."

Subsequently, raids were conducted at her mother's house in Hemayetpur and Rabbi's place in search of Ayesha. Following intelligence that they had gone to Barishal, operations were carried out in Dumki, Patuakhali, and later at Rabbi's grandfather's house in Nalchity, where Ayesha was arrested along with Rabbi. A laptop stolen from the Mohammadpur residence was recovered from them.

Officer Nazrul said, "In the initial interrogation, Ayesha admitted her involvement in the incident. She had a prior habit of theft while employed as a domestic aide. She did not use a mobile phone, and there was no photograph of her. The burn mark on her neck was the only clue. We were able to unravel the mystery by following the clue from a previous GD filed against her."

Regarding the motive, he said: "On the second day of joining work, she stole Tk 2,000 from the house. When questioned about this, she had an argument with the homeowner, Laila Afroze.

“The homeowner threatened to hand Ayesha over to police. On the fourth day, Ayesha took a switchblade knife with her when she went to work. When they argued again that day, a fight ensued, during which Ayesha stabbed her with the switchblade. When the daughter rushed forward, she was also stabbed."

Ayesha was also injured during the attack. She changed out of her bloodstained clothes, put on Nafisa’s school uniform, and left with a laptop and mobile phone.

She told police she later changed clothes inside Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital and went towards Savar. She said she threw the stolen phone and the bloodstained clothing into the river from Singair Bridge.

Tejgaon Division Deputy Commissioner Ibne Mizan, who was present at the briefing, said: "We learned that when the homeowner moved to inform her husband about the theft, Ayesha immediately attacked her with the knife. A struggle ensued between them. The daughter was asleep at the time. But when the daughter woke up due to the scuffle and tried to inform the security guard via the intercom, Ayesha also attacked her."

Asked whether such a murder could happen over just Tk 2,000, Nazrul said: “If the dispute was only about Tk 2,000, she could have stopped going to work. Instead, she went back the next day with a knife, intending to commit the crime.

“She never used a mobile, she covered her face, and after the killing she prepared her escape, wearing the girl’s uniform and leaving with a bag. She had clear criminal intent.”

He said there may also have been fear of being handed over to police, anger, and possibly a fresh plan to steal.

He added: “We may get more information once she is remanded. We will investigate whether anyone else was involved or whether she is part of a syndicate.”

Rabbi was also arrested because, according to police, he helped his wife flee after learning of the incident.

The police officer urged the public to always confirm the identity of household aides before hiring them, advising: "You must keep their photograph and national ID card, as well as the contact numbers of one or two people who can identify them. Then we can avoid such unfortunate incidents.”