United News of Bangladesh

A newly wed couple was found hanging from the ceiling of their house in the Safipur area of Gazipur's Kaliakoir upazila on Saturday. The deceased were identified as Akash Hossain, 21, son of Rahidul Islam, and his wife Salma Akter, 18, of Safipur Dakkhinpara area of the upazila. According to locals, Akash and Salma got married two months back and had been living in the house since then. Also read: Teenager's body found hanging at Jashore Juvenile Centre In fact, the locals peeped through the window of the house and found the two hanging, said Saiful Alam, sub-inspector at Kaliakoir Police Station. On information, police recovered the bodies after breaking open the house door and sent the same to Shaheed Tajuddin Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem. “The couple might have committed suicide. Their autopsy reports are awaited,” he said. Also read: Man, woman’s hanging body recovered from Gazipur

A nor’wester wrought havoc in large parts of Kurigram on Friday afternoon, damaging at least 40 houses. The impact of the storm was severely felt in Nageshwari, Phulbari and Bhurungamari upazilas of Kurigram, officials said. Tin sheds of many houses in the affected areas were carried aloft in the whirlwind, according to the officials. Abdur Rashid, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Kurigram, said the farmers of the district feared a major loss. Also read: Nor’wester destroys 250 houses in Bhola “Anyway, efforts are on to ascertain the extent of the damage,” said Ayub Ali Sarkar, chairman of Jatrapur union in Sadar upazila of the district.

A 9th-grader has allegedly been gang-raped by four youths at a village of Kachua Upazila in Bagerhat District on Thursday night. The alleged rapists are- Sohel Sheikh, Ezajul Mollah, Sojib Mollah, and Tipu Sheikh of the same area. According to the girl’s father, the incident occurred on Thursday night as they were not at home.On Thursday night, “the miscreants entered the girl’s room and raped her showing knife and mouth covered with a cloth”.The seriously injured survivor was admitted to Bagerhat Sadar hospital on Friday night.On information, Bagerhat’s additional police super Asaduzzaman visited the girl at the hospital.Tulshi Rani Biswas, senior staff nurse of Bagerhat Sadar Hospital said several injury marks were spotted on the girl's body and now she is seriously sick.Her sample collected for medical examination, she added."If a complaint is lodged with the police station, a case will be filed in connection with the incident and efforts are being made to arrest the accused,” said additional police super Asaduzzaman.Sexual assaults on women continue unabated in Bangladesh, despite the government introducing the death penalty for rapes in 2020.Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) data shows that 1,018 children were raped in 2020 alone, but only 683 police cases had been filed. Also, 116 survivors were six years old or below.Overall, 1,627 rape cases were reported in 2020 and 53 of the women were killed by the perpetrators while 14 took their own lives, as per the data.However, ASK's data is just the tip of the iceberg, according to aid agencies, who report that most women are too afraid to report rape.

A fire broke out at Rohingya camp-7 in Ukhia upazila of Cox’s Bazar on Friday noon.   The fire started at 12 pm at a house beside Ukhiya TV Tower of camp-7. Four units of Ukhia and Cox’s Bazar fire service doused the fire around 4pm, said Sahadat Hossain, senior station officer of Cox’s Bazar Fire Service and Civil Defence office. No casualties were reported in the fire and the damage could not be estimated immediately, said the fire service official. How the fire started can be determined after an investigation, he added. However, Rohingyas in the camp claimed that 30 makeshift houses and 15 shops were gutted in the fire. Fires in Rohingya camps are not uncommon in the district. On January 9, as many as 600 makeshift houses were gutted in a fire that broke out at Rohingya Camp-16 in the Palangkhali Shafuillakata area of Ukhia. Another massive fire broke out at a Covid isolation centre in extension-20 of Ukhia Rohingya camp on January 2. Fortunately no casualties were reported in that fire but some 70 hospital beds were charred. On March 22 last year, as many as 15 people were killed and more than two lakh Rohingya refugees incurred damages as a massive fire broke out at three Rohingya camps in Ukhia, destroying 10,000 houses.

Two cousin sisters riding pillion on a motorcycle were killed after the bike was hit by a covered van at Araihazar upazila in Narayanganj, police said on Friday. The deceased were identified as Brishty Bardhan,4, and her four-year-old cousin Icche Bardhan. Read: 2 children killed in Munshiganj road crash Brishty’s father Suman Bardhan, a jeweller from Monohardi village in the upazila and grandfather Kartik Bardhan suffered injuries in the accident on Thursday. They are being treated at National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR) in Dhaka. The accident occurred at 8:30 am in front of Badrunnesa College near Lengurdi area. According to locals, Sumon was driving the motorcycle and his father, daughter and niece were pillion riding as they headed toward Loknath Brahmachari Ashram and Temple at Sonargaon. Near Lengurdi area a speeding covered van from the opposite direction hit the motorcycle leaving four of them severely injured. Read: Five die in Chandpur road accident Locals rushed them to Araihazar upazila health complex where the doctors announced Brishty dead on arrival and Icche died on the way to Dhaka hospital, said Anisur Rahman Molla, Officer-in-Charge of Araihazar police station. The OC said the van was seized but its driver managed to flee. Legal actions are underway in this regard, said the OC.

A man and his four sons were killed by a group of agitated villagers during arbitral proceedings to end a long-pending land dispute in Ruma upazila of Bandarban, police said. The deceased were identified as Long Yu Mro, 70, and his sons -- Ranthoi Mro, 35, Rangi Mro, 30, Men Oai Mro, 25, and Ring Rao Mro, 20. The alleged crime occurred around 11.30pm on Thursday in the Abupara area of Gadhalenga union of the upazila. Gadhalenga UP chairman Mein Rok Mro said the family had a long-pending dispute over the land in question with some people in the area. During the arbitral proceedings on Thursday, some agitated people hacked the five family members to death. Bandarban Police SP Jerin Akhter said that the area is 60 kms away from the town. "A police has been sent to recover the bodies. Action will be taken after an investigation," she said.

Panic gripped some 800 passengers of a Saint Martin Island-bound luxury cruise ship on Friday midnight after thick smoke filled areas of the vessel, prompting its operator to anchor mid-sea.  The decision to halt MV Bay-1 was, in fact, taken after its crew noticed smoke in the engine room -- possibly due to a flash fire -- around 12am, nearly two hours of the ship leaving the Patenga terminal in Chattogram for the island, a popular holiday destination. "The thick smoke from the engine room soon engulfed areas of the ship, triggering chaos on board. The operator was quick to switch off the engine," one of the stranded passengers told UNB over the phone. Also read: You can now travel to Saint Martin's "The ship remains anchored mid-sea off the coast of Kutubdia upazila. I heard a rescue ship is on its way," said Aminul Haque Babu, a human rights activist travelling on the ship. However, Sea Cruise Operator Owners’ Association of Bangladesh attributed the incident to excess engine oil leak. "The ship operator made the right decision to halt it," said Hossain Islam Bahadur, general secretary of the Association. Also read:Teknaf to Saint Martin tourist ship service to run trial on November 16 "Former railways minister Mujibul Haque Mujib is on the ship," he added. Despite repeated attempts, the ship management could not be contacted.

Bodies of two fishermen were recovered on Thursday after a trawler sank in the Meghna River after being hit by a launch. The deceased were identified as Ershad,35, and Akbar,35.  Another fisherman named Momin  remained missing. Read: Teenager’s throat-slit body found in Madaripur Coast Guard sources said their diving team recovered the bodies from the east side of Choukighat while conducting a search operation. The fishing trawler carrying nine fishermen sank near Choukighat area of Doulatkhan upazila in Bhola as Hakimuddin-bound launch Tasrif-2 hit it around 2 am. Six fishermen were rescued while three others went missing. Mizanur Rahman, Officer of Doulatkhan Fire Service Station,  said the sunken trawler has been recovered and operation will continue to rescue the missing fisherman. Read: Woman dies after being stabbed, set on fire ‘by son’ in Laxmipur Bojlur Rahman, Officer-in-Charge of Doulatkhan police station, said a complaint was lodged in this regard and action will be taken after investigation.

Police recovered the throat-slit body of a teenage boy from Mohoruddir Char village in Kalkini upazila of Madaripur district on Thursday morning. The deceased was identified as Zahirul Sardar, 16, son of Barek Sarder, a Kuwait expatriate of the village. He was a student of class X of Samiti Hat High School. Read: Woman dies after being stabbed, set on fire ‘by son’ in Laxmipur Mohammad Ishtiaq Ashfaq, officer-in-charge of Kalkini Police Station, said deceased’s cousin Sabuj went to Zhahirul's room in the morning and spotted the throat-slit body and informed police. Later, the body was recovered and sent to the hospital morgue for autopsy, added the OC.    

A 60-year old woman died after she was stabbed and then set on fire allegedly by her son in Ramganj upazila of Laxmipur district on Wednesday night. The deceased was identified as Amena Begum, wife of late Akbar Ali of Ashar Kota village in Noagaon union in the upazila. Her son Redwan Hossain Milon was arrested from the spot, said Emdadul Haque, Officer-in-Charge of Ramganj police station. Also read: Son held for beating mother to death in Khagrachari He said Redwan stabbed his mother at night over a family feud and set her  on fire after covering the body with a blanket. Informed by the locals, police recovered the body from their home and arrested the son, said the OC. A murder case was lodged at Ramganj police station after receiving a complaint from Redwan’s brother Tipu Sultan.   Also raed: Mother remanded for killing 17-month-old baby in Sylhet