Act of revenge by a close kin, say police

A close relative committed the sensational five-murder in Narayanganj over his emotional involvement with one of the victims, police said.

Mahfuz, nephew of two victims Taslima and Lamia, confessed to the crime to Senior Judicial Magistrate Saiduzzaman Sharif yesterday.

Khandakar Mahid Uddin, superintendent of Narayanganj police, said Mahfuz alone killed all the five -- his aunt Taslima Begum, 35, her son Shanto, 10, daughter Sumaiya, 5, brother Mosharraf Hossain Morshed, 22, and sister-in-law Lamia, 25.

Mahfuz held a grudge against the family since he was beaten at a family arbitration over his romantic relations with Lamia a few weeks ago, police said, adding that the murders were an act of revenge.

Addressing a press conference at his office yesterday, the police super said Mahfuz went to Taslima's rented house on Friday evening.

When Taslima's son Shanto opened the door, he gave the kid Tk 10 and asked him not to tell anyone that he was there.

He then hid under a bed and stayed there till he was spotted by Mosharraf around 2:30am. Mosharraf woke Taslima up and told her how Mahfuz was hiding under the bed. However, Mosharraf then asked Mahfuz to sleep with him on the bed.

In the two-room house, Mosharraf was sleeping in one room and the four others in another. 

After about an hour, Mahfuz brought a grinding stone from the kitchen and hit Mosharraf in the head. As he began to scream, Mahfuz choked him to death with a shirt.

In the morning, Mahfuz feared that he would be caught, and planned to kill others, said the SP.

After Taslima sent Shanto to school in the morning, Mahfuz called Taslima. When she came to his room, he struck her in the head from behind with the grinding stone. To confirm her death, he strangled her with a piece of cloth.

He then went after Lamia, who was awake. She jumped from the bed seeing him enter the room. Mahfuz threw the stone at her, hitting her but not fatally. When Mahfuz was looking for something to strangle her, she picked up the grinding stone and tried to hit him back, but ended up striking Sumaiya instead, according to the statement. 

As the child, who was sleeping on the bed, began to scream, Mahfuz hit Lamia in the head with the stone again, knocking her down this time. He then strangled her and Sumaiya to confirm their deaths.

Around 7:15am on Saturday Shanto returned from school, after learning there would be no class that day. When the kid asked him why there was blood all around, Mahfuz banged his head against the wall and strangled him to death as well.

After this, he locked the house from outside and left, said the SP, quoting the confessional statement. 

Abul Khayer, who is investigating the case, said Mahfuz's emotional involvement with lamia led to the murders.

Taslima's sister-in-law Hazera Begum went to the house in the city's Baburail area around 9:00pm on Saturday.

She found the door locked and could not reach any of them by phone.

Suspecting something was wrong, she along with neighbours broke into the flat and saw the bodies. She then called the police.

Neighbours said they heard no screams from the flat. They also did not see any visitor in the house that day.