A two-year-old child has died in a fire at his father’s home in Jessore Sadar upazila early yesterday. Police detained the grandmother of the deceased in connection with the incident. The boy, Al Fatim, son of Al Amin Biswas, was killed in a fire incident around 2 am yesterday while he was sleeping with his stepmother at a thatched house in Narendrapur Hamratala area. His stepmother Sima, 30, is undergoing treatment at Khulna Medical College Hospital with burn injuries. Fatim’s mother Rozina Khatun said her mother-in-law Monwara Begum, 55, called her yesterday morning and told her Fatim had died in a fire.
Rozina is one of three wives of Al Amin Biswas, who works in Malaysia. She lives with her parents and son at Kholshi village in Bagharpara Upazila. “Two weeks ago my mother-in-law called to say she was missing Fatim, then came and took him away,” she said. “Later, I asked her to send him back, but she said she won’t let her leave.”
Rozina and her father believe Monwara set the fire and killed the child. Narendrapur Police Outpost’s Sub-Inspector Sohrab Hossain, who visited the spot, said bedding and clothes inside the room had burned down.
He also said he had found a petrol container in the room. The SI suspected someone poured petrol in the room and then set fire to it.
“We may learn the truth once we receive the autopsy report,” he said. Police have detained Monwara and her sister Muslima Begum, he added.