Her life changed its course for the worse 12 years ago because of a spoiled son of a local influential in the capital’s Jurain. The man, who forced her to marry him back then, killed her by setting her on fire yesterday. Manik Chand has become so brutal to his wife, just because her family failed to give him money to buy drugs. With 53 percent burns to her body, Loboni Akhter, 25, had been taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 2:30am. She died at the burns unit around 11:00pm.
Her addict-husband doused her with kerosene in the early hours yesterday and set her ablaze. She woke up screaming in pain in the middle of the night and discovered that Manik was sitting beside her and watching her burn, her mother Laiju Begum said.
Laboni ran out of the room. Other members of the household woke up to her screams and put out the fire. But by that time damage was already done.
Her in-laws rushed her to DMCH, said Laiju, who reached the hospital with her husband around 3:30am, an hour after being informed of the incident by Laboni’s brother-in-law.
“Manik began abusing her four years ago. He was getting hooked on drugs, mainly Yaba, then. In two years’ time, he had immersed himself in drugs,” Laiju told The Daily Star.
He used to beat her every night, asking her “to bring money from us”.
“But I am a poor man,” said Laboni’s father Mohammad Helal Khan, who works at a battery shop and earns only Tk 7,000 a month.
“I could not pay for my son-in-law’s addiction, and so I could not save my daughter.”
Manik had good earnings but that was not enough for paying for the drugs he took every day, Helal said.
He added Manik’s family had a real estate business. They illegally built houses on government land, which brought in around Tk 60,000 a month. Manik used to get a share of that, which amounted to Tk 15,000.
Helal filed a murder case with the police last night against Manik.
Twenty days ago, Laboni along with their two children, aged 2 and 6, was thrown out of the house, Laiju said.
The three had taken refuge at Laboni’s parental home.
However, five days ago, Manik came and forcibly wanted to take the children back. Laboni had no option but to go along with them, fearing for her children’s safety, Laiju said.
She then told her mother, “This is the last chance I am giving him. If he abuses me again, I will surely leave him and come back and stay with you”.
On the fateful night, just before Laboni drifted off to sleep, Manik told her that he had brought her back to kill her, Laiju said, quoting her daughter as saying at the hospital.
“He told my daughter, ‘This is your last night’”.
Manik has gone into hiding.
Nasim Ahmed, husband of a sister of Manik, concurred with the allegation that Manik was a drug addict. Manik used to beat up his mother as well for money and whenever she tried to intervene, he added.
Nasim told The Daily Star that he had assured Laboni’s family of assisting them in filing a case and trying him.
Looking back at how Manik had taken their daughter away, Laiju said her daughter had to give up everything for the man. She even could not continue with her studies after class-VII.
Laboni was abducted by him when she was only 13, and forced her to marry him.
On Bangla New Year’s Day, my daughter had gone out with one of her friends. She was kidnapped. “Despite our reluctance to accept the marriage, we came to terms with it, thinking that the abduction and marriage had ruined her image for ever, and would make it difficult for her to marry someone else,” Laiju said.
Laboni’s father said they had no choice but to accept it. “Manik comes from a very influential family in Jurain. Everyone is scared of him and his father Alek Chand.
“We were afraid too,” Helal said.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
