Accused woman denied bail, sent to jail over killing of eight puppies

A Pabna court has denied bail to Nishi Rahman, 38, in a case filed over the killing of eight puppies that were allegedly drowned inside a sack in a pond in Ishwardi. She was produced before the Pabna Amli Court-2 at around 4:30pm on Wednesday, December 3, after being brought from Ishwardi Police Station. Following the hearing, Judge Tarikul Islam rejected her bail petition and ordered that she be sent to jail. The next date for hearing has been scheduled by the court.

Earlier on Tuesday night at around 11:30pm, Ishwardi Upazila livestock officer Aklima Khatun filed the case naming Nishi Rahman as the accused. Around 1:30am, police arrested her from a rented house in Ishwardi municipality. Nishi is the wife of Hasanur Rahman Noyon, an official of the Small Farmer Development Foundation under the Ishwardi Upazila Rural Development and Co-operatives Department.

Ishwardi Circle additional superintendent of police Pranab Kumar said the case was filed after the incident went viral on social media. He said Nishi Rahman, the sole accused in the case, was arrested the same night and produced before the court the following afternoon.

He said preliminary investigation and interrogation revealed that Nishi claimed she had put the puppies inside a sack and left them near the pond after being irritated by their cries. She said she did not know who threw them into the water. Police are continuing further investigation.

According to locals, a dog named Tom had long lived in a corner of the Ishwardi UNO’s residence. A week ago, Tom gave birth to eight puppies. Since Monday morning, the mother dog was seen wandering, crying and frantically searching for her missing puppies.

Later, staff of the upazila parishad learnt that the puppies had been stuffed into a sack and dumped in the parishad pond late on Sunday night by Nishi Rahman, wife of Hasanur Rahman Noyon. The bodies of the puppies were recovered from the pond the next morning.

Ishwardi UNO Md Moniruzzaman said a written order was issued on Monday, December 1, instructing Hasanur Rahman Noyon to vacate the gazetted quarter following the puppy-killing incident. They vacated the residence on Tuesday afternoon.