Teenage girl burned to death in Ctg: Family claims murder, police suspect electric shock

A 13-year-old girl died from burn injuries in the Akmal Ali Ghat area of CEPZ in Chattogram today.

The victim was Kajol Akter. She was rescued in critical condition on Sunday evening and admitted to the burn unit of Chattogram Medical College Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries at about 2:20pm.

Family members claimed that she had been set on fire by her in-laws, while police suspect she sustained an electric shock from a high-voltage grid line on the roof of a three-story building.

Kajol Akter, daughter of Didarul Alam from the Charjabbar area of Subarnachar upazila in Noakhali, was a Class VII student.

According to her sister, Tamanna Akter, Kajol had eloped with her boyfriend and married him four months ago.

"After two months, she contacted us and complained that her in-laws were torturing her for dowry. She asked us to take her back home. Following her request, my father brought her back a month ago. Then, on Thursday night, she went missing. We thought her husband had taken her back to his house," Tamanna said.

"On Sunday evening, we received a call from an unknown person who informed us that Kajol's entire body had been burned and she was admitted to CMCH. When we arrived at the hospital, we found her body wrapped in bandages, and she was writhing in pain. We tried to contact her husband multiple times, but he hasn't been answering calls," Tamanna added.

"Just 20 minutes before her death, she told us that her husband and in-laws were responsible. We want justice for my sister's death," she stated.

Sub-Inspector (SI) Joynal Abedin of CEPZ police station told The Business Standard that he received a call from locals at 5pm on Sunday and rushed to the Akmal Ali Ghat area at about 5:20pm.

"Locals noticed her burning on the roof of a three-story building, rescued her, and sent her to CMCH. The building is constructed in a way that makes it difficult to access the roof. We cannot ascertain how she managed to get there. There is a high-voltage electricity grid line over the building, and there have been prior incidents of electric shocks from exposed cables," SI Joynal explained.

"According to locals, the girl suffered an electric shock, which ignited her clothing and caused severe burns to her entire body," he added.

"But we are unsure how she reached the Akmal Ali Ghat area, as her family claims she had never been to Chattogram before. We have tried contacting her husband, but he hasn't been answering his phone," SI Joynal said.

"The body has been sent for postmortem, and legal procedures are underway. Once the postmortem report is received, the cause of death will be determined," he concluded.

Professor Dr Mohammad Rafique, head of the burn unit at CMCH, said, "The girl was brought to the hospital by a CNG auto-rickshaw driver as an unidentified victim. Upon examination, we found that 95% of her body was burned." "We treated her as a flame-burn patient. It is not possible for us to determine how she was burned. The forensic report will reveal the cause of her injuries," Dr Rafique added.