Woman falls prey to muggers, dies

A woman died after she fell from a rickshaw when snatchers pulled her handbag near Sobhanbagh mosque in Dhaka this morning.

Deceased Ayesha alias Ripa, 27, was wife of Mohammad Shimul, a resident of Lalmatia in the capital, Bangla daily Prothom Alo reports.

Ibrahim Khan, a witness, said Ayesha was crossing the Sobhanbagh mosque by a rickshaw at about 6:30am when a gang of four to five muggers, in a microbus, tried to snatch her purse.

Ayesha fell to the ground from the rickshaw and was dragged through the street, he said. At one point the muggers sped away leaving her on the road.

She succumbed to her injuries before Ibrahim could rush her to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, according to the witness.

Nazrul Islam Mukul, a brother in-law of Ayesha, said Ayesha dropped her eight-year-old daughter Raisa to her sister’s home on Tajmahal Road and then went to the house of another sister in Dhanmondi last night. The incident took place when she was returning in the morning.

Nurul Islam, a sub-inspector of Dhanmondi Police Station, confirmed that Ayesha fell prey to muggers when she was on her way to Lalmatia from Panthapath.