Mother hacked two children to death in Tongi: Police

Police reported that a woman killed her two children — a son and a daughter — using a household cleaver at their residence in the Arichpur area of Tongi, Gazipur.

According to the police, the woman, Saleha Begum, killed her daughter Maliha Akter (6) and son Abdullah Bin Omar (4). However, the reason behind the killings has not been disclosed.

The children's father, Abdul Baten Mia, is from Tatuakandi village in Bancharampur upazila, Brahmanbaria. He resided with his family in a rented flat on the second floor of Setu Villa, an eight-storey building located in the Rupbaner Tek area of Jamai Bazar, Arichpur.

Police recovered the blood-stained bodies of the two children from that flat on Friday evening. They also recovered a bloodied cleaver from the scene.

Faridul Islam, Officer-in-charge (OC) of Tongi East Police Station, said, “We are currently investigating the incident. We are trying to find out why or under what circumstances the mother killed her two children. Legal action is underway.”

CCTV footage from the building showed that no one other than Saleha Begum entered or left the flat between Friday afternoon and early evening.

Family members said that after the incident, Saleha herself went to the neighboring house and called her two brothers-in-law. Since she was behaving strangely, police took her into custody that evening.

Later, around midnight, Saleha Begum confessed to the police that she had killed her two children.

Saleha’s mother, Shilpi Begum, said, “Saleha suffers from migraines. Her condition worsened after Abdullah was born.”

Police said that they would consult doctors to determine whether Saleha has any mental health issues apart from her migraine condition.