Stepfather Under suspicion ‘Mother’ Demands son’s execution

Ten-year-old Tasfia was left at a madrasa by her stepfather, Shafiul, on the pretext of enrolling her there. The following day, he took her with him again, saying that he would buy her some belongings and new clothes. The next night, Tasfia’s body was recovered from the Karatoya River. What happened to Tasfia and where she was during those intervening three days remain unclear. However, major questions have emerged surrounding CCTV footage from the madrasa, secret phone conversations, and several inconsistencies in statements given by her stepfather.An investigation found that at around 6:30 p.m.

on Friday Shafiul took Tasfia to Raniganj Zubaida Girls’ Madrasa in Ghoraghat upazila. Madrasa administrator Romicha said Shafiul introduced himself as Tasfia’s stepfather and said he wanted to enroll the child at the madrasa. He requested that Tasfia be allowed to stay there that night, saying that he would submit his and his wife’s national identity cards.“The child was crying a lot at the time. I asked her to stop crying.

I did not know the man personally. Before I could understand what was happening, he left quickly after leaving the child here,” said Romicha. She added that she went outside to look for Shafiul after he left but could not find him.When Shafiul did not return to the madrasa the following day, Saturday (August 15), the administrator took Tasfia to his family home in Bharnapara to make inquiries. There, she found several women, including Tasfia’s step-grandmother. They said they had no objection to Tasfia being enrolled at the madrasa. Shafiul was not at home at the time.The administrator obtained Tasfia’s mother Liza Begum’s mobile number, 01988759466, from there and tried several times to contact her but was unsuccessful. Later, Tasfia returned to the madrasa with the administrator, taking some clothes with her. 

After that evening, Shafiul called the madrasa from his mobile number, 01331484138, to the madrasa’s number, 01736892653. The administrator told him, “No one leaves someone else’s child somewhere like this. You did not do the right thing.”Shafiul later came to the madrasa and said that he had deliberately left Tasfia there because if he stayed, the child might have wanted to return home with him.According to the administrator, Shafiul specifically instructed her not to allow Tasfia to leave with her mother or any relatives who might come from Rangpur. He also told her to inform him if anyone came asking about the child. He even instructed her not to let Tasfia leave with her own mother if she came, saying that he would take care of everything necessary.An inquiry revealed that Tasfia’s original home was in Laldiya village of Pirganj upazila in Rangpur district. She was the daughter of Liza Begum from her first marriage.

After Liza’s second marriage, Tasfia lived with her grandparents at her stepfather Shafiul’s home in Bharnapara, Ghoraghat.Tasfia’s mother Liza and stepfather Shafiul both worked at a garment factory in Dhaka. They became acquainted there, and Shafiul married Liza four years ago. It is reported that approximately two and a half years ago, Shafiul and Liza took Tasfia away from a school or madrasa called Jamtali in the Badarganj or Madarganj area of Rangpur.The administrator said Shafiul had told her that Tasfia’s mother had previously been married in Rangpur and that he feared relatives there might take the child away. 

Then, on Sunday afternoon, Shafiul once again went to the madrasa and gave Tasfia Tk 50 and some chocolates. He returned to the madrasa later that evening. That day, the administrator had gone to her sister’s home in Gobindaganj, Gaibandha, for an important personal matter, leaving another teacher in charge of the madrasa.According to the madrasa authorities, Shafiul left the madrasa with Tasfia after leaving his own and Tasfia’s mother’s national identity cards there, saying that he would have photographs taken and buy a trunk for the child.

The administrator said CCTV footage from the madrasa also showed Tasfia leaving with him. He never returned her to the madrasa.At 9:16 p.m. that night, a call was made from Shafiul’s mobile number to the administrator’s phone. Tasfia spoke on the phone and said that her father had enrolled her in Birampur. The administrator claimed that during the conversation, Shafiul, who was beside the child, appeared to be telling her what to say.Five minutes later, when the administrator called again and asked them to collect the clothes Tasfia had left at the madrasa, Tasfia said that her father had bought her new clothes. After that, the madrasa authorities had no further communication with them.

The following day, Monday (August 17), at around 11 p.m., police recovered the body of a child wearing a red/maroon dress from the Karatoya River near the Tongi Eidgah field in Bharnapara, under Singra Union No. 3 of Ghoraghat upazila. The body was later identified as Tasfia.After learning that the body had been recovered, the madrasa administrator reviewed the CCTV footage and the previous events.

She claimed that Shafiul was the last person to take Tasfia away from the madrasa. When Shafiul was contacted after the incident, several inconsistencies were found in his statements. He claimed that he had bought a trunk and clothes for Tasfia and then returned her to the madrasa. When he was told that CCTV footage showed him leaving with the child, he said that he had sent Tasfia alone in a van.

When asked why he had not accompanied her, he said he had work at the Union Parishad.Asked why the madrasa authorities had been told that Tasfia had been enrolled in Birampur, Shafiul said the child had been instructed to say that so that her mother and relatives in Rangpur would not find out about the matter.Shafiul said he was currently in Dhaka. When asked when he learned about Tasfia’s death, he said he found out late at night. He claimed that the child’s mother had fallen ill and that the two of them would come together after contacting her. However, attempts to contact Tasfia’s mother on her mobile number found the phone switched off.

Who Is Shafiul?

During an investigation in Bharnapara village, local residents were interviewed. Several residents expressed suspicion about Shafiul’s possible involvement in Tasfia’s death. An unnamed Union Parishad member and an auto-rickshaw driver named Zakir said there had previously been various allegations of criminal activities against Shafiul and that police had come to the area at different times looking for him. However, these allegations could not yet be independently verified through documentary records.

There were also rumors that he had been seen near the river on the night of the incident. These claims also require verification through a proper investigation. Later, the reporter visited Shafiul’s home and spoke with his mother, Salema Begum. She said her son returned home at approximately 1 a.m. on Sunday night. The family questioned him about where he had been all day and where he had come from so late at night. 

She claimed that he appeared abnormal that night and seemed to be under the influence of drugs.Salema Begum said that when she questioned her son that night, he told her that he had enrolled Tasfia at the madrasa and left her there. Later, on Monday night, her husband Moslem Uddin went to the river to fish and learned that a child’s body had been recovered. After returning home and informing the family, they tried to contact Shafiul. According to her, after learning that Tasfia’s body had been found in the river, Shafiul appeared startled and then told her to contact the madrasa. When they contacted the madrasa, they learned that Shafiul had taken Tasfia away.

Expressing anger toward her own son, Salema Begum said, “As his mother, I am giving this testimony: he wronged that child. He killed Tasfia. I want him to be executed.”

The biggest question surrounding Tasfia’s death is now: Where was the child from around 6:30 p.m. on Friday, August 14, when she was left at the madrasa, until her body was recovered from the river on Monday night, August 17? CCTV footage from the madrasa shows Tasfia leaving with Shafiul on the evening of August 16. That same night, the madrasa received a call from Shafiul’s mobile phone and Tasfia spoke to the administrator. Her body was then recovered from the river on Monday night.

What happened to Tasfia during this nearly three-day period, who was with her, and how her body ended up in the Karatoya River remain unanswered questions.Ghoraghat Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Shahidul Islam said the body had been sent to the morgue at M Abdur Rahim Medical College Hospital in Dinajpur for autopsy before the child’s identity was known. After her identity was confirmed, the family was contacted. Following the autopsy, the body was handed over to the family.The OC said necessary legal action would be taken after the autopsy report is received and the investigation is completed.

The exact cause of Tasfia’s death has not yet been established. However, her movements after being taken from the madrasa and the inconsistencies in Shafiul’s statements have become important elements of the investigation. The answers surrounding the unexplained period from August 14 to August 17 may prove to be the most important clues in uncovering the mystery of Tasfia’s death.