Two days after 'burial', woman calls and says 'I am alive'

It was a call from the beyond, seemingly after a trip from Pet Sematary.

But for Hashi Begum, 24, this was no Stephen King novel.

Hashi Begum had gone missing from her in-laws' house in Faridpur's Sadarpur upazila on 7 September after she had set out to pay some electricity bills. Her parents smelled a murder case.

Four days later on 11 September, as Hashi Begum remained traceless, her father Sheikh Habibur Rahman filed a complaint at Sadarpur police station. In the complaint, he alleged that his son-in-law Motaleb Sheikh killed Hashi Begum and hid the body.

Afterwards, Hashi Begum's husband Motaleb Sheikh filed another complaint at Sadarpur police station on 14 September, alleging that Hashi Begum had run away to her father's house with about Tk10 lakh worth of goods.

The case was finally cracked, or so it was thought, when on 20 September police recovered the semi-decomposed body of a woman from a ditch in Adampur area of Manikdah union of Bhanga upazila, which is adjacent to Sadarpur upazila.

Hashi Begum's mother Salma Begum identified the body as her daughter's.

After the post-mortem and legal process, the body was buried at a cemetery in Saulduby.

Two days later, Hashi began to call her parents.

She told them that she was alive and disclosed her whereabouts.

Later, police detained Hashi Begum at Nandail in Mymensingh, Prothom Alo reported.

They brought her to Sadarpur from Nandail on Monday (25 September).

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Sadarpur police station Officer-in-Charge Md Mamun Al Rashid said, "Hashi Begum ran away with someone. Her parents had mistakenly identified the body. Further legal action will be taken in consultation with senior police officers."

According to police and locals, Hashi Begum got married to Motaleb Sheikh eight years ago. They have a seven-year-old son.