Humiliated, RMG worker kills herself

A garment worker allegedly committed suicide after she was humiliated over an allegation of illicit affair with a neighbour.

The victim was even asked to pay Tk 50,000 to one of the culprits to save her honour, alleged her younger sister.  

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On Tuesday evening, the body of Mousumi Akhter, 22, of Faridpur's Boalmari upazila, was found hanging from a ceiling fan at her rented home at Sharokunjuo in the capital's Hazaribagh Beribadh. She had been working at W Apparels in the area since January this year.

Police arrested four people, including the caretaker of the house and his wife, on charges of provoking the girl to take her own life.

The four are caretaker Liton, 38, his wife Rokhsana Begum, 30, Ijazul Islam, 21, and Kamal Hawladar, 22.

Mousumi, along with her younger sister Sumi Akhter, rented a room on the ground floor of the three-storey building around a month ago.

On the same floor, rooms have also been rented out to bachelors.

Quoting Mousumi, Sumi, who works at a shoe factory in Hazaribagh area, said their neighbour Azim, 22, driver of a human haulier locally known as leguna, went to Mousumi's room to borrow a mobile charger on Saturday night.

Sumi was not in the capital at that time as she had gone to their village home.

When Mousumi was looking for the charger, caretaker's wife Rokhsana locked the door from outside and alleged that she had seen Mousumi and Azim together, Sumi said.

Hearing this, locals thronged the house and insulted Mousumi, Sumi added.

Rokhsana then asked Mousumi to leave the house and threatened to tell her father of the incident, Sumi said.

Sumi alleged that Rokhsana said she would "solve" the matter if Mousumi gave her Tk 50,000.

When Sumi returned to the capital from her village on Monday, she came to know about the incident from Mousumi.

However, Mousumi told her sister that she had no affair with Azim.

Asked, neighbours said they only heard about the incident, but did not know details.

Sumi added that Mousumi went to her workplace on Tuesday and returned home in the afternoon. After finding her room locked from inside, she along with locals broke into the room and saw Mousumi's body hanging from a ceiling fan with a scarf.

Mousumi, who got separated from her husband last year, left behind a four-year-old son who is now with her parents in Boalmari. 

Earlier, Mousumi and Sumi used to live in a house at Balurmath in Hazaribagh.

Mir Alimuzzaman, officer-in-charge of Hazaribagh Police Station, said police were interrogating the four detainees.

A case was filed against eight people, including the four, in connection with provoking the girl to commit suicide, the police official said.