Five children hacked by aunt

Five children were hacked allegedly by their aunt over a property-related dispute in Noakhali's Subarnachar upazila on Friday.

According to the family members, Mamtaj Begum Rupa, 40, a former member of Charbata union parishad, attacked her husband Nazrul Islam Ripon's nieces and nephews with sharp objects after she lured them with chocolates into her house around 4:00pm.

Hearing the screams, neighbours and other family members rushed to the scene and rescued the children.

The injured were identified as Sayeed Bin Ashraf, 10, and Saad Bin Ashraf, 5, sons of Ashraful Islam; Lubaba Khanam Jemi, 7, daughter of Fazle Elahi Rony; and Jebin, 9, and Jahin, 5, children of Jahirul Islam.

Of them, Jemi and Sayeed underwent surgery yesterday morning at the Noakhali General Hospital. The others are being treated at the same hospital, said Sayeed's mother Fahmida Akhter.

Mamtaj and Ripon fled their house after the incident.

Contacted, Ripon said his wife was also injured during the incident and the doctors at Noakhali General Hospital referred her to Dhaka.

However, a staff nurse of the hospital said that Mamtaj had arrived there for treatment later in the day but had fled the next morning. She was not referred to Dhaka by any of the doctors.

"The woman was injured by her own knife," said Dev Priyo Das, officer-in-charge of Char Jabbar Police Station.

The reporter could not contact Ripon the second time despite repeated attempts.

According to Sayeed's parents, there has been an internal feud in the family over their ancestral property for the last 10 years.

"The property was sold by our father and the money was also divided among all his 10 sons. Despite giving him a good amount of money, Ripon repeatedly threatened our lives as he does not want to vacate the house. This was a planned attack by the couple," said Ashraful.

Legal action will be taken after the filing of a written complaint, added the OC.