A housewife was murdered by an interest trader named Kayesh Talukder at Joinkathi Upazila in Patuakhali on April 9.
The deceased was identified as Purnima.
Moreover, her husband was also forced to flee the village after being tortured by Kayesh Talukder and his men.
According to sources, Purnima's husband Rakhal Bhodro took a loan of Taka 2,35000 from kayesh way back in 2016.
But despite paying back the amount with an 8.0 per cent interest rate within four years, Kayesh unjustly demanded Rakhal's land as settlement.
Rakhal was forced to write off 51 per cent of his land to Kayesh and his family members in the face of continued threats.
However, Rakhal was still not spared from Kayesh's wrath. His men abducted Rakhal on last September and brutally tortured him for three straight days in an attempt to displace Rakhal's family from the land.
Although Rakhal fled after the incident, Kayesh did not stop. He targeted Purnima.
According to Rakhal's sister Shobha Rani, Kayesh and his men continuously harassed Purnima and made her life a living hell in the last few months.
Purnima used to sleep at different rooms of the house to camouflage herself from the goons.
On the night of the murder, Purnima came back to her room to stop her two-year old daughter from crying. Later she slept in the middle by keeping her two younger children on both sides.
In the middle of the night, her elder son Akash Bhodro rushed to her room after hearing footsteps and unknown voices only to find the lifeless body of her mother lying down with her clothes wrapped around her neck.
"My mother had bruises on her neck, on her left arm and below the knee," he added.
The mother-in-law of the victim Sharswati Rani said that she saw 5-6 men fleeing from the house during the night of the incident.
However, she could not see their faces as it was dark outside, she added.
The doctors conducting post mortem on Purnima's body confirmed that she was murdered. However they said that confirmation on whether the victim was raped or not would only be made after further investigation.
Although Kayesh disappeared for a few days following the murder, he again came back to the area and resumed tormenting the victim's family.
Akash, the victim's son has been receiving continuous death threats from Kayesh's goons to stop him from filing a case with the police.
Moreover, Kayesh and his men have put a boundary wall around their land, centering which the murder took place.
However, Kayesh denied the allegations against him to the UNB correspondent. He said that Rakhal wrote off his lands to Kayesh and his family members in a peaceful and legal way.
Despite everything, police did not interrogate anyone over the incident.
When contacted, SI Shamim of the local police station did not want to comment on the incident.
Additional Superintendent of Police Sadar Circle Khan Mohammad Mukit Hasan said that they have not received any complaints regarding the incident.
On the other hand, District Additional Superintendent of Police Mahfuzur Rahman said he had heard about the murder and would investigate it seriously, reports UNB.