Woman hacked to death ‘over extramarital affairs’

A woman was hacked to death in Jhenaidah Sadar upazila early yesterday, allegedly by her neighbour, who used to harass her, said family members.

Ozola Khatun, 48, was the wife of Shariful Islam of Rajapur village, said police and locals.

According to family members, when Ozola left the house around 5:30am, her neighbour, Abdul Karim, who was waiting for her, gave her an indecent proposal, which she turned down, prompting him to attack her.

At one stage of the scuffle, Ozola hit Karim with a sharp kitchen utensil. Enraged, Karim grabbed the utensil from her and slit her throat with it.

Locals took Karim to Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital, while police sent Ozola's body to the hospital morgue for an autopsy.

The victim's family claimed that Abdul Karim had been harassing Ozola and demanded an exemplary punishment for the murder.

Mir Abidur Rahman, additional superintendent (Sadar Circle) of police in Jhenaidah, said police primarily suspected that the murder took place over an extramarital affair. "We are looking into the matter."

Meanwhile, the victim's husband, Shariful Islam, and his son, Saidul Islam Mannan, were taken to the Jhenaidah Sadar Police Station for interrogation.

The process to file a case in this connection is underway, sources at the police said.