Six-Year-Old Found Dead in Mymensingh After Eight-Day Search

A tragic sequence of events in Mymensingh has culminated in the discovery of a six-year-old girl’s body in a ditch, eight days after she vanished during a heavy downpour. The grim discovery has sparked a sharp division between the victim’s grieving family, who allege foul play, and local law enforcement officials, who currently suspect an accidental drowning.

The deceased child has been identified as Saumi Saba, a first-grade pupil at the Boyra Chalakandi Government Primary School and the daughter of Swapan Fakir. The recovery of her body took place at around 6:00 pm on Monday in the Boyra Fakir Bari area, located within Ward 24 of Mymensingh city.

According to police reports and local community accounts, the child went missing on 21st June. After returning home from school that afternoon, she ventured outside at around 2:00 pm to play in the rain with two young children from the neighbourhood. Whilst her companions returned to their respective homes later that day, Saba did not. Frantic family members searched the surrounding areas but found no trace of the child. Desperate for assistance, her father filed a general diary (GD) with the local police station that very evening to initiate an official missing person investigation.

The breakthrough came eight days later, under unexpected circumstances. At approximately 4:00 pm on Monday, a local resident was line-fishing near a culvert over a ditch in the Boyra Samadhaner Mor area when he noticed a body floating in the water. Due to the advanced state of decomposition, identification was initially difficult. However, family members successfully identified the child by the denim trousers she had been wearing at the time of her disappearance. Upon receiving the grim news, a team of police officers arrived at the scene to exhume and recover the body.

The family has rejected the notion of an accident, firmly maintaining that the child was subjected to a violent crime. Belayet Hossain, the victim’s maternal uncle, stated that his niece had gone missing whilst playing in the rain, prompting their immediate notification to the Kotwali Model Police Station. He argued that visible marks of physical trauma on her back suggested a coordinated attack. The family strongly believes that the young girl was deliberately murdered and her body dumped under the culvert to conceal the crime.

Conversely, law enforcement agencies are urging caution until scientific evidence is processed. Mohammad Shibirul Islam, the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Kotwali Model Police Station, confirmed that the body had been sent to a local hospital morgue. He noted that preliminary assumptions point towards an accidental drowning during the rainstorm. However, the police chief emphasised that the definitive cause of death can only be ascertained once the formal post-mortem examination report is delivered. Legal procedures are underway as authorities await the autopsy findings to guide their next steps.