Police have arrested the prime suspect in the murder of a nine-year-old girl at Ashashuni upazila in Satkhira district.
The victim was identified as Nusrat Jahan Rahi, 9, daughter of Robiul Islam from Agardari village and a second-grade student at Agardari Government Primary School.
The suspect, Rezaul Islam Jony, 23, a neighbor of the victim and a resident of the same village, was arrested on Sunday afternoon from Agardari area in the upazila.
According to Satkhira Superintendent of Police Monirul Islam, Jony was formerly employed at a company in Dhaka but lost his job four months ago. After returning to his village, he developed a drug addiction and faced severe financial hardship. Desperate for money, he allegedly planned to steal the gold earrings Rahi was wearing.
The SP also stated that Jony lured Rahi with promises of buying her food and took her to a secluded mustard field. There, he forcibly removed her earrings. When Rahi threatened to tell her parents, Jony panicked and strangled her to death. To hide the body, he tied her hands and feet using her torn clothing and dumped her in a nearby pond. Later, he sold the stolen earrings at a jewelry shop in Budhhata Bazaar for Tk 9,000.
Rahi's body was discovered in the pond on Saturday afternoon with her hands and feet tied.
Later, the victim's father filed a murder case with Ashashuni Police Station, leading to Jony's arrest.
