United News of Bangladesh

Bagerhat’s Saberkhanda village was shrouded in grief on Friday evening as a young mother allegedly ended two lives—her nine-month-old son’s and her own—inside the family home. Kaniz Surbana Swarnali, 22, reportedly drowned her infant son, Nazim Hossain Swarnali, in a water bucket before hanging herself, police said.  The child was the only son of Swarnali and her husband, Jewell Hasan Saddam, Bagerhat Sadar Upazila Chhatra League president, who has been imprisoned in Jessore since his arrest following the student-public uprising on August 5, 2024. Mother and daughter found dead in Keraniganj; tutor and sister held Family sources said Swarnali had been married to Saddam for about five years and had been struggling to secure his release.  Her brother, Shubho, said repeated failures to help her husband led her into severe mental distress. “First she drowned her son in a water bucket, then she hanged herself,” Shubho said.  At the time, the family, including Swarnali’s mother, brother, husband, wife, and child, was living together in Saddam’s home. Swarnali was the daughter of district Jatiya Party leader Ruhul Amin Howlader, connecting the tragedy to two politically known families, though grief struck them all alike. Bagerhat Additional Superintendent of Police (Sadar Circle) Md. Shamim Hossain said the bodies were recovered and sent to the morgue for autopsy. “The exact circumstances of the killing will be revealed after the autopsy report,” he added. Police said they are investigating the incident and preparing to file two cases—one for murder and one for unnatural death. As evening fell over Saberkhanda, neighbours were left in stunned silence.  A child who had just begun his life and a mother overwhelmed by despair were both gone, leaving behind a household forever marked by sorrow.

A total of 1,200 birds, trapped by poachers, have been rescued and freed at Rajpath village in Mollahat Upazila of  Bagerhat. Many traps and bird-hunting equipment were seized during the drive led by Mollahat Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Harekrishna Adhikari.  Tipped off, the drive was conducted in a temporary shelter built by the poachers in the beel and the captured birds were rescued before they could be sold. The birds, identified as Jhut Shalik, were released back into their natural habitat in a beel (lake-like wetland). The poachers managed to flee. Chilly weather batters Lalmonirhat However, suspects were identified and the local police were directed to file a case against them, said the UNO.  The seized traps and nets were subsequently burned to prevent future use.  “The poachers had planned to sell the birds in bulk but the prompt drive stopped it,” said the UNO, adding that the administration’s efforts to curb bird poaching would continue.  Bagerhats’s wetlands, canals and fisheries see a rise of both domestic and migratory birds during the winter, making them a target for poachers. These harmless and innocent creatures are often sold openly or through clandestine means with many being transported to other districts, he said.