Hindu Healer Murdered in Munshiganj Over Graveyard Entry Dispute

A shocking murder case in Sirajdikhan upazila of Munshiganj has been solved with the arrest and confession of the prime suspect, a local neighbor. Kabiraj Rekha Rani Roy (65), a respected Hindu traditional healer from Chainpara village in Jainsar union, was strangled and left in a paddy field after an altercation on 15 October 2024. Her body was recovered the next day with her hands and legs bound by gamcha (traditional towel) and her throat wrapped in her own sari.

The case was initially filed by her son as a murder against unidentified persons at Sirajdikhan Police Station (Case No. 18). After 29 days of investigation by local police, the case was transferred to the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) Munshiganj unit, which took suo motu initiative.

PBI investigators quickly focused on the suspicious disappearance of Rekha Rani’s neighbor Mir Hossain (48). Using technical intelligence and detective work, PBI confirmed his direct involvement. After evading authorities for months by moving between Tangail, Sirajganj, and Dhaka, Mir Hossain was arrested on the night of 2 March from Barigaon area in Tanter union of Shrinagar upazila.

During his confession under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before the court, Mir Hossain revealed the motive and sequence of events. He stated that he had been suffering from severe tooth pain and had repeatedly requested Rekha Rani to provide medicine, but she refused to visit his home. On the afternoon of 15 October, while cleaning the community graveyard ahead of Maghrib prayer (about 10 minutes before), Rekha Rani attempted to enter the graveyard. Mir Hossain objected, citing that she was Hindu and the area was a Muslim burial site.

The argument escalated into physical confrontation when Rekha Rani ignored his protest, entered the graveyard, and began removing soil and roots from an old grave. Enraged, Mir Hossain strangled her with the anchal (end portion) of her sari. To conceal the crime, he bound her hands and legs with his gamcha, dragged the body to a nearby waterlogged paddy field, and fled the scene.

Mir Hossain is currently in jail custody, according to PBI sources.