11-Year-Old Girl Found Dead at Gournadi Madrasa

Police recovered the hanging body of an 11-year-old girl from a room at a residential madrasa in Gournadi upazila of Barishal, with the circumstances surrounding her death still under investigation.

The deceased, identified as Jannatul Ferdous, was found at the Miftahul Jannah Hifzul Quran Model Women’s Madrasa in the Kasemabad area late on Monday night (20 July). Her death has caused concern among fellow students, teachers and local residents, while police are investigating whether she died by suicide or whether other factors were involved.

Jannatul was the daughter of expatriate worker Md Shantu, a resident of Naluya village in Atrai upazila of Naogaon. She lived with her mother at her maternal grandfather’s home in Kasemabad, Gournadi, and was enrolled as a residential student at the madrasa.

According to police, citing accounts from other students, the girl was last found in a room that had remained locked from inside since Monday evening. Her classmates reportedly became suspicious after noticing that the door had not been opened for some time.

The students then looked through the glass of a window and saw Jannatul hanging from the window grille with a scarf around her neck. They raised the alarm, prompting teachers and local residents to rush to the room.

The door was subsequently broken open and the girl was brought down. However, she had already died by then.

After being informed of the incident, police from Gournadi Model Police Station went to the madrasa and recovered the body. The body was sent to the morgue at Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital in Barishal on Tuesday morning (21 July) for a post-mortem examination.

Md Abu Yusuf Khandaker, director of the madrasa, said 15 female students are currently living and studying at the institution. Two female teachers were on duty at the time of the incident, he added.

Gournadi Model Police Station officer-in-charge (OC) Md Tariq Hasan Russell said officers had recovered the body after receiving information about the incident. He said investigators were examining whether the death was a case of suicide or whether there was another explanation.

The OC said the exact cause of death would be established after the post-mortem examination and further investigation. Police have begun the necessary legal procedures and are looking into the circumstances surrounding the girl’s death.

The incident has raised questions about what happened inside the residential madrasa before Jannatul was found. Investigators are expected to examine the scene, the condition of the room and accounts from students and staff as part of the inquiry. No definitive conclusion about the cause of death has been reached so far, and the authorities are awaiting the post-mortem findings.