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Police have arrested a man after the body of a four-and-a-half-year-old child was recovered from a pond in Sylhet. The man was a cousin of the girl’s father and a neighbour to the family.
Police say Zakir Hossain, 35, has confessed to killing the child after a failed attempt to rape her, reports bdnews24.com.
Zakir was arrested from a village in Sylhet Sadar Upazila’s Kandigaon Union around 11:30 pm on Monday, said Md Manzurul Alah, additional deputy commissioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police.
The victim was the daughter of a day labourer and had gone missing on May 6. Police recovered her body from a nearby pond on May 8.
The girl’s mother then filed a case against unidentified suspects at Jalalabad Police Station.
A video of Zakir describing the incident following his arrest has gone viral on social media.
In the video, he says that he sent the child to the shop to buy two cigarettes. He was alone at home. He then took yaba and became intoxicated.
After the child arrived, he said he had a sudden “inhuman” feeling and tried to rape the girl. When the child fell unconscious, he grew scared and strangled her to death.
Zakir said that he did not know what to do next, so he kept the child's body in a suitcase at home. After keeping it for two days, a foul smell started spreading and he grew frightened that others at home would notice. He then took advantage of the clear streets at night and threw the child's body in a pond.
Police say that Zakir wrapped the child in his wife's scarf and put it in a bag. Later, he threw the scarf into the pond as well. The body was then recovered from the pond on Friday by the police.
When news of Zakir's arrest on charges of attempted rape and murder spread, locals surrounded Jalalabad Police Station at night in protest, demanding his punishment. Later, agitated locals also attacked Zakir's house overnight.
Police official Manjurul said that details of Zakir's arrest and the investigation would be provided at a press conference later on.