Police have recovered the body of a child named Sumaiya Akhter (3) in Begumganj, Noakhali. In this incident, police have arrested the child’s stepmother and taken her to the police station.

The child’s body was recovered from the Nurbox Chaprashi house in Khanpur village of Sharifpur union of the upazila at around 3 pm on Sunday (August 10). The deceased Sumaiya is the daughter of Saudi expatriate Faisal Ahmed of the same house.

According to police and local sources, Sumaiya lived with her stepmother Shiuli Akhter in a rented house in the upazila’s Chaumuhani municipality. Shiuli beat her stepdaughter Shishu Sumaiya over a trivial incident around noon on Saturday. Then she bathed her and put her to sleep. Later, her stepmother found the child dead while she was sleeping in the afternoon. Later, she informed her expatriate husband about the matter. Later, a doctor was brought to the house. Then the doctor said that the child had died earlier. On the advice of her expatriate husband, the stepmother took Sumaiya’s body to her husband’s village home in Khanpur village of the upazila in an ambulance that same night for burial. The next morning, while bathing the child’s body, local people noticed signs of injury on her ear and neck. They immediately called the national emergency service number 999 and reported the matter.

Begumganj Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Shahidul Islam said that a complaint was made on 999 that Sumaiya had been killed by her stepmother. Based on such a complaint, the police visited the scene. There were signs of injury on the neck and right ear of the deceased child. Blood was coming out of one ear. The body was recovered and sent to the 250-bed Noakhali General Hospital morgue for autopsy. The accused stepmother has been brought to the police station for questioning. The exact cause of death will be known once the autopsy report is received.