Police exhume elderly woman's body over alleged murder by her son

The body of a 62-year-old woman was exhumed from her grave in Charbhadrasan upazila of Faridpur nearly three months after her son was accused of torturing and killing her over the proceeds from the sale of land.

The body of Sufia Begum was exhumed from a graveyard in Madhya Charsalepur village under Charharirampur Union around noon on Monday, 9 November, following a court order.

Sufia, the widow of a deceased man, used to live with her only son, Salam Bepari. Her sister filed a murder case with the court over her death.

According to the case statement and local sources, Sufia owned a homestead and some agricultural land. Her only son, Salam Bepari, had allegedly been pressuring her for a long time to sell the properties and transfer the proceeds to his name.

When she refused, he allegedly beat and physically tortured her regularly. He also threatened to kill her if she did not hand over the land documents, according to the complaint.

Salam Bepari and his associates allegedly planned and killed Sufia sometime between 14 and 15 August. They then allegedly buried her body hurriedly to make her death appear natural.

After learning of her sister's death on the morning of 15 August, Nilima Begum and other relatives rushed to the house. They reportedly noticed bloodstains on Sufia's face, injury marks on different parts of her body, and bruises on her chest and neck, raising suspicions about the circumstances of her death.

On 23 August, Nilima Begum filed a complaint case with the Court of Senior Judicial Magistrate, Court No. 6, in Faridpur, seeking an investigation into the death.

The case named Sufia's son Salam Bepari, Sheikh Iqbal and several unidentified people as accused. The complaint brought charges of murder and concealment of evidence under Sections 302, 201 and 34 of the Penal Code.

Later, an application was submitted to the court seeking an order to exhume the body under Section 176(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure and conduct an inquest, autopsy and forensic examination.

The body was exhumed on Monday in accordance with the court's order.

Executive Magistrate and Assistant Commissioner (Land) of Sadarupur Upazila Md Palash Uddin was present during the exhumation. A Criminal Investigation Department (CID) team led by Inspector Moazzem Hossain and members of law enforcement agencies, including Charbhadrasan Police Station Sub-Inspector Kazi Ripon, were also present.

Md Palash Uddin said the body had been exhumed following a court order and handed over to the CID for autopsy and forensic examination.

He said the actual cause of death would be established after the autopsy report and forensic examination, following which legal action would be taken.