3 kids burnt to death in Jhenidah

A man allegedly burnt his three nephews to death after giving them multiple blows on the heads with a hammer due to a family dispute over money at Kabirpur in Shailkupa upazila of Jhenidah yesterday evening.

Iqbal Hossain, 40, is a paternal uncle of two of the children and the maternal uncle of the third, police told our Jhenidah correspondent.

Mostafa Shafin, 10, and Mostafa Amin, 5, sons of Delwar Hossain, and Mahim Hossain, 14, died after Iqbal torched their home.

Mahim's mother Jesmine Khatun, 40, had critical burn injuries when she tried to rescue the three children.

Iqbal's three nephews went to him around 5:30pm yesterday and started playing games on his laptop.

He first gave Shafin a blow of the hammer in the head and then hit the other two boys. He then took them to the bed and tied up their hands and legs, Iqbal told police after his arrest.

He then poured petrol on them, set them on fire, locked the door, windows, and the collapsible gate of the house, and went to the roof, Operations Officer Emdadul Haque of Shailkupa Police Station told The Daily Star quoting Iqbal.

Fire service and locals doused the fire and rushed the three kids to Jhenidah Sadar Hospital where Shafin and Amin died, said Ataur Rahman, a doctor of the hospital. Mahim died a little later.

Iqbal was detained by locals and handed over to the police.

Quoting Iqbal, police officer Emdadul told The Daily Star that Iqbal, who lived in Singapore for 10 years, had sent Tk 40 lakh to his father as investment in his father's fertiliser dealership.

When he returned home six months ago, his father told him that the money was used for building a one-story house on their land. Iqbal was not satisfied with this, as the land and the house could cost no more than Tk 25 lakh, according to Iqbal's statement before police.

This led to strife between Iqbal and his father.

Operations Officer Emdadul said parents of Iqbal were living next door with Delwar, father of two of the victims.

Iqbal around 4:00pm yesterday went to his father's shop, sought his blessings, and retuned home, just an hour and a half before killing the three children.

Iqbal told police that he lost it when he learnt that his younger brother Delwar, who is a school teacher, was “involved in the misappropriation of his money”.

Police recovered a petrol container half full from beside house, a blood stain hammer, and some burnt rope.