A six-and-a-half-year-old boy was allegedly killed by his stepmother by drowning him in a bucket of water in Fakirhat upazila of Bagerhat.
Police detained the accused stepmother, Rubaiya Akter, 25, for questioning on Saturday evening.
Earlier in the morning around 10:00am, locals rescued the child from a rented house behind APC Pharmaceuticals in Lakhpur village with his head submerged in a bucket filled with water. He was taken to a hospital where the on-duty doctor declared him dead.
The deceased Md Talha, 6, was the son of Saikat Hossain Pappu and Monira Khanam of Lakhpur village. He used to live with his father and stepmother Rubaiya in the rented house at Lakhpur.
His biological mother Monira Khanam is currently living elsewhere after remarriage.
Monira Khanam said she rushed to the house after receiving a phone call about her son’s illness. “After coming here, I heard that my son died after drowning in a bucket of water."
Hasan Mohammad Naser Rikabdar, Bagerhat Superintendent of Police (SP) said that the incident did not appear to be a natural death.
The body was sent to Bagerhat 250-bed District Hospital for autopsy and a case will be filed in connection with the incident, the SP added.