Gazipur man tries to burn wife to death over dowry

A man has tried to kill his wife for failing to meet his dowry demands in Sreepur upazila of Gazipur.

Khushi Begum, the 21-year-old burn survivor, is currently undergoing treatment at Rangpur Medical College Hospital. Her husband Sharif Mahmud Faruqi, who is in his late twenties, is on the run.

Khushi’s father Hasan Sheikh lodged a complaint with Sreepur police station on Wednesday night in this connection. 

Hasan said his son-in-law had been demanding dowry since the couple’s marriage around two years ago.

He added that Sharif had been given Tk2 lakh in cash and Tk1.2 lakh worth of furniture as dowry at different times.

Sharif also became involved in an extramarital affair recently, Hasan claimed.

“At around 10:30pm on Saturday, Sharif again demanded Tk1 lakh from Khushi as dowry. When she refused, Sharif beat her up and left her on the floor."

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“Sharif started playing songs at a high volume after midnight. Then pouring kerosene on Khushi and setting her ablaze, he went to the bathroom and locked the door from the inside,” Hasan said.

Quoting witnesses, Hasan further said that locals doused the fire and gave Khushi primary treatment after she came out of the house, crying for help.

Hasan rushed to the couple’s house in Sreepur from Rangpur at around 1:30am on Sunday after being contacted by locals.

Later, Khushi was taken to the burn unit of Rangpur Medical College Hospital in an ambulance along with the accused, who fled the spot shortly afterwards.

The burn unit chief, MA Hamid Palash, said the victim had 10% burns from below her navel to her legs. “Besides, some parts of the chest were burnt as well. Treatment is going on ... it will take some time for her to recover.”

Sreepur police station OC Imam Hossain said legal action was being taken in this regard.