A school teacher was chopped to death inside her classroom at Vainapara of Santhia upazila in Pabna yesterday.
Police said a man aged around 35 entered the Vainapara Govt Primary School at noon and killed Arifa Khatun, 28, of Songasa village in Sirajganj, with a sharp weapon.
Arifa was giving lessons to the students of class II.
The man fled on a three-wheeler van immediately after the killing, locals said.
Ataikula police in a drive last night arrested the van driver Robiul from Chowbaria of the upazila.
“The assailant was roaming suspiciously around the school since the morning. When the locals asked him about the reason for his being there, he said that he came to visit the place,” Md Jahangir Hossain Matobbar, superintendent of police in Pabna, told The Daily Star.
“Just before the tiffin period, he entered the classroom and chopped Arifa to death with a sharp weapon. The culprit managed to escape in a van,” he said.
Following information by locals, police have identified the van puller Md Robiul of Vainapara village. “We have arrested Robiul from Chowbaria. We are trying to nab the killer,” the SP said.
Newly married Arifa used to tell her husband that she would die anytime. She often lapsed into a melancholy mood, quoting her husband police said.
“We are collecting information regarding her past relationships and secret matter to find clues behind the murder,” said Md Habibul Islam, officer-in-charge of Ataikula Police Station.
Contacted, Arifa’s husband Md Alamgir Hossain said “I cannot imagine why she was murdered in this way. She did not tell me anything of her pains or troubled past. How could I know the reason behind her murder?”
Md Shariful Islam, headmaster of Vainapara Primary School, said Arifa married Alamgir Hossain, a teacher of Nandanpur Primary School, in December, 2010.
“Arifa used to stay as a lodging teacher at a house in the village. Her marriage took place in the lodging house instead of her father Abdul Halim’s house in Sirajganj,” he said adding that she seemed morose for the last few days.
“We are very shocked that our colleague was killed inside the classroom. The culprits must be punished,” said Md Masud Karim, a teacher of another primary school in the area.
Arifa’s body was sent to Pabna Medical College Hospital morgue for an autopsy.
Meanwhile, Arifa’s brother Anisur Rahman filed a case with Ataikula Police Station.
Teachers, students of different educational institutes in the upazila demanded exemplary punishment to the culprits.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
