The victim was identified as Rebeka Sultana Poly, 13, a Class-VI student of Halishahar Ahmed Miah City Corporation Girls’ High School and daughter of Firoz Khan who is an expatriate living in Malaysia. Her mother used to work in a garment factory.

Police detained house owner AK Khan, 40, for interrogation over the incident.

Victim’s brother Russel Rana said Poly was alone at the house on Wednesday evening.

When they returned to the residence on the ground floor of a five-storey building at Kuripukurpar around 7pm, they found the front door locked from inside, he said, adding that they did not get any response from Poly despite repeated calls.

“We stormed the house breaking open the back door only to see her hanging from the ceiling. At the same time, we saw the front door wide open. That means someone was inside when we were breaking the back door and fled through the front door hurriedly,” Rana said.

He also claimed that they got a pair of sandals in front of the front door and a heaver in a room.

Rana also claimed that landlord AK Khan used to harass her sister.

Officer-in-charge of Bandar Police Station Sukanta Chakrabarti said they sent the body to Chittagong Medical College Hospital for autopsy.

Meanwhile, students of Halishahar Ahmed Miah City Corporation Girls’ High School formed a human on Thursday demanding justice for Poly.