Speculation is mounting over the brutal killing of a mother and daughter in their Mohammadpur apartment on Shahjahan Road, where the assailant reportedly spent just 55 minutes inside before fleeing disguised in a school uniform.
CCTV footage shows the suspect, a woman who had been working as a domestic helper for only four days, entering the building at 8:50am on Monday wearing a burqa.
At 9:45am, she is seen leaving the gate wearing a white school uniform, a mask, and carrying a backpack.
The footage indicates she briefly stepped outside while talking on her phone.
When the security guard on duty, Ismail, called out to her, she returned momentarily before quickly boarding a rickshaw and fleeing toward the Dhaka Residential Model College road.
The victims were identified as Malaila Afroz (48) and her daughter Nafisa Binte Aziz (15), a student at Mohammadpur Preparatory School and College.
Malaila’s husband, Azizul Islam, a physics teacher at Sunbeams School in Dhanmondi, discovered the bodies inside their 7th-floor flat.
Azizul told the Dhaka Tribune that he left for school in the morning as usual.
When he returned around 11am, he unlocked the door and walked into what he described as “a house full of blood.”
“First I saw my daughter lying in blood. Then in the kitchen I found my wife, also in a pool of blood,” he said.
Police arrived shortly afterward and took them to the hospital, where Nafisa died of her injuries.
Azizul said the woman suspected of committing the murders had been hired only four days earlier by another security guard, Khalil.
Three days prior, a set of house keys had gone missing, and Malaila had planned to replace them.
The family did not have the woman’s phone number or any identification documents.
Disguised escape, burglary clues
Several neighbours and parents of Nafisa’s classmates rushed to the building after hearing of the killings.
Istiak Haider, father of one of Nafisa’s friends, said they had been waiting for her to arrive for an exam that morning.
“I heard a set of keys was missing, and a cupboard was broken. It appears she robbed the house posing as a maid, then escaped wearing Nafisa’s school uniform,” he said.
Security guard Ismail said the suspect entered the building in a burqa, asking to be allowed upstairs.
“Madam confirmed she should be sent up. After about 45 minutes, a girl in a school uniform came out with a bag. I asked her to identify herself. She said she was from that flat. Then she left in a rickshaw.”
Police have since taken Khalil, who arranged the maid’s employment, in for questioning.
Murder weapons recovered
A police source said the suspect’s name is believed to be Ayesha, and both victims had multiple deep wounds to the neck and other parts of the body, inflicted with sharp weapons.
Two knives used in the attack were recovered from a bucket in the bathroom.
Mohammadpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Kazi Md Rafique said Azizul had returned home to find both victims critically injured.
“Nafisa was still alive when rescued but died at the hospital,” he said.
Evidence collection is underway, security guards are being interrogated, and preparations for filing a case are in progress.
Police say the motive – whether personal, financial, or otherwise – remains under investigation.
