Detectives likely to bring charge only against mother

The investigation into the murders of two siblings in Rampura of the capital is almost complete, said a source in the DB police.

The DB police in its investigation found mother Mahfuza Malek Jasmine (35) guilty of the murders of her children.

Mahfuza is reportedly suffering from Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a kind of psychological disease.

The charge sheet will hopefully be submitted in April against Mahfuza. She has already given confessional statement in which she admitted to have killed her children, said the source.

Earlier, 14-year-old Nusrat Jahan Arani and six-year-old Alvi Aman were declared dead at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) after they were taken there unconscious on February 29. 

Mahfuza then claimed that the children had fallen asleep after having leftover Chinese food for lunch and did not wake up.

After postmortem examination, doctors said injury marks were found on the children’s necks. The boy also had injury marks on his legs and his sister had eye injuries. 

During the interrogation, she told the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) that a bout of depression brought on by anxiety about the siblings’ future drove her to murder them.

A high official of the DB police, requesting not to be named, told the Dhaka Tribune that they would give a detailed explanation of Mahfuza’s mental condition and the psychological disorder “Phobia” affects, that led her to kill her own children. 

The official involved in the investigation process, said Mahfuza told the interrogation team that her memory betrayed her temporarily while killing her children but when she got back her sense she realised what she had done and tired to save herself from the murder charge. 

Although detectives wanted to move ahead with the charge but Dr Ashok Kumar Saha, chairman of the Psychology Department at Jagannath University suggested that if someone is diagnosed with this disorder he or she should be given proper psychological treatment.

Asked about it, Md Nurun Nabi, additional deputy commissioner of the DB police, coordinating the investigation of the sensational murders, said they were almost close to their investigation and hopeful of preparing and submitting the charge sheet by the next April.