Killing of Barisal Girl
Accused claims responsibility
Leaves notes before going into hiding
Before going into hiding, Russell Mia left behind notes claiming responsibility for killing Saoda, a Barisal University student he sought to marry.
He also blamed the girl’s parents and relatives for instigating the murder by breaking up “his relationship with Saoda”, police said quoting the notes.Police recovered the notes from Russell’s mess on Jordan Road in Barisal city on Thursday night.
Russell, a second-year management student of the same university, knifed Saoda, 18, a first-year accounting student, on the university campus on Thursday morning.
Saoda was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital by air ambulance, but she died there late in the afternoon.
Russell, 20, fled the scene immediately after the attack and has been missing since.
He and Saoda are from neighbouring villages in Patharghata upazila of Barguna district. They had a relationship for at least a year. But things turned sour about a month ago when Russell proposed to the girl, for which her parents rebuked him, said campus sources.
Shahida Begum, mother of Saoda, has lodged a murder case with the city’s Kotwali Police Station, accusing Russell and two to three unnamed persons.
In the case statement, she blamed Russell for stalking her daughter but did not mention if there had been any relationship between the two.
Meanwhile, police yesterday detained Bipul Baroi, a close friend of Russell and his classmate, for interrogation, said Shakhawat Hossain, investigation officer of the case.
Bipul denied any involvement in the killing.
In the letters addressed to Saoda’s parents, Russell also said he would kill himself with a hope of getting reunited with Saoda in the after-life.
After an autopsy at DMCH, Saoda’s body was handed over to her guardians last night.
Her namaz-e-janaza would be held at the university campus mosque today, said campus sources.
Later, the body would be taken to her home at Hatempur village in Patharghata upazila for burial, family sources said.
-With The Daily Star input
