Forensics finds Mirpur murder wounds ‘odd’

Police suspect murder-suicide in the deaths of a woman and her two minor daughters in Dhaka’s Mirpur, but the forensic pathologist says the type of wounds appear ‘odd’.

Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Forensic Department head Prof AM Selim Reza spoke to the media after the post-mortem examinations on Tuesday.

“The wounds are a bit different. These wounds are not like those we see in such cases,” he said.

“Only one wound can be seen in such deaths. But there are many in this case, even on the children,” he added.

Police recovered the bodies of Jasmine Akter, 35, a staffer at the Department of Agricultural Extension, and her daughters Hafida Taslim Himi, 9, and 6-year-old Abila Tahmim Haoney from their flat in Paikparha C-type Government Quarters on Monday.

Police officials who made the first inquest report said the three had their throats slit. Jasmine also had her wrists slit and had at least 12 wounds in the chest.

Himi had three wounds in her abdomen and her left wrist cut. Honey had one wound in the abdomen and the right wrist slit.

After hearing from Jasmine’s husband Hasibul Islam, a Parliament Secretariat official, and their relatives that she had mental issues, and visiting the place of occurrence, police said they suspected Jasmine killed her two daughters before taking her own life.

Doctor Reza declined comment on the police suspicion, saying the reason behind the deaths would be known once they made the final post-mortem examination report.

He said they collected samples for viscera tests to check whether the three were poisoned.

Hasibul told police he found the door of their bedroom locked from inside when he returned home around 5pm.

Jasmine’s brother and other relatives were in other rooms of the flat, according to Hasibul.

He said they broke down the door as no one was responding to repeated knocks.

After finding the bodies, they called police.

Citing statements of Jasmine’s relatives, Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesperson Masudur Rahman said she had been suffering from migraine and her condition did not improve despite getting treated in India.

Besides this, the death of her mother a month ago plunged her deeper into anxiety. She would always say who would look after her daughters if she died, the relatives told police.

They also said Jasmine tried to force her daughters to take too many sleeping pills about a month ago.

But she could not do that as the relatives found it out after one of her daughters took the pills, they said.

Shahinur Islam, a brother of Jasmine, who was also in the flat during the incident, doubted the police suspicion.

“How could she possibly cut her wrists, throat and abdomen? My nieces’ throats and wrists were slit. I don’t understand how could this happen? Did she really do it?” he asked.

The bodies were handed to the family after the post-mortem examination. Shahinur said they would be buried at their village in Panchagarh’s Tentulia.

According to bdnews24, Darussalam Police Station OC Selimuzzaman said no one started any case over the incident until Tuesday afternoon.

“We have started our investigation, though. We are waiting for the post-mortem examination report to know the cause of the deaths,” he added.