Police have recovered the body of a four-month pregnant housewife, Ity Begum, 21, six days after she went missing in Gopalganj.
At around 8pm on Sunday, Muksudpur Police Station recovered the body, which had been stuffed in a sack, from the family’s own pond beside their house in Latifpur village under Gobindapur Union of Muksudpur upazila.
Muksudpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mostafa Kamal confirmed the recovery.
Based on initial investigation, police believe it to be a premeditated murder. Since the incident, the victim’s husband, Russel Sheikh, and other in-laws have been on the run.
Murder victim Ity Begum was the daughter of Idris Ali of Daulatpur village in Sarishabari upazila of Jamalpur district. She married Russel Sheikh, son of Layek Sheikh of Latifpur village in Muksudpur upazila, three years ago.
Locals said that since the marriage there had been ongoing family disputes between Ity and Russel, and quarrels were frequent. On 24 November, Ity went missing after leaving the house. Three days later, on 27 November, her husband Russel lodged a general diary with the police. On Sunday evening, 30 November, her sack-wrapped body floated to the surface of the pond beside the house. Locals informed the police, who came to the scene at night and recovered the body.
OC Mostafa Kamal of Muksudpur Police Station said that acting on information from local residents, police went to the spot and recovered Ity’s body from inside a sack. When the body was recovered, the victim’s hands, feet and mouth were tied with cloth. Initially, it is being treated as a planned murder. Police have also learnt that she was four months pregnant.
Before the body was recovered, the husband and other in-laws locked up the house and fled. A drive is under way to arrest them. The body has been sent to the morgue of Gopalganj 250-bed General Hospital for post-mortem on Monday.
