Staff Correspondent, Narayanganj

The owner of Bou Bazar’s Ramzan Samiti has fled with the money. Paying the price for the owner’s misdeeds was the society’s employee (manager) Shiplu. Jobless life, burden of loans—how much could he carry? On top of that, endless pressure from the society’s customers for their money. Sometimes even curses. Added to this was the pressure of running his own family. Habibullah Shiplu (35) could bear no more. In the end, he made the harshest decision: he suffocated his wife and then his four-year-old son with a pillow, before hanging himself from a ceiling fan.

Since Monday  afternoon, crowds have thronged a narrow lane in front of a four-storey building in Baburail, Bou Bazar. People gathered in grief and shock. The door of one flat was broken, sealed by police. As news spread of three dead bodies inside, the crowd swelled.

In one room, a young man hung from a ceiling fan. His name was Habibullah Shiplu (35). In the adjacent room lay two lifeless bodies—his wife Mohini Akter Mim (24) and four-year-old son Afran. Neighbors were stunned at the sight of the three corpses.

Locals expressed deep sorrow at this heart-wrenching incident. Many rushed to the flat to see the victims. Relatives’ wails shook the place; many present could not hold back their tears. Everyone demanded justice against the society’s owner, Ramzan. They said, “This tragedy is because of Ramzan Mia, the owner of Ramzan Samiti. We, along with other cheated depositors, demand his arrest.”

Unable to bear the weight of loans, the unemployed youth killed his wife and four-year-old son before hanging himself in Narayanganj. The victims were: Md. Habibullah Shiplu (35), his wife Mohini Akter Mim (24), and their son Afran. Police recovered their bodies from a rented flat in Baburail, Bou Bazar, under Narayanganj Sadar upazila.

The incident occurred Monday (15 September) afternoon, said Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Tarek Al Mehdi. “Around 5:30 pm, after being informed by locals, police arrived at the scene and recovered the three bodies,” he said.

Police officer Mehdi explained, “The flat on the fourth floor was locked from inside. In the presence of relatives, locals broke open the door and found the three bodies. Shiplu was hanging with a gamcha tied to a ceiling fan in one room, while his wife and child were found suffocated with pillows in another. Initial investigation suggests that Shiplu killed his wife and son before committing suicide.”

The deceased had worked as a manager for a local cooperative society called Ramzan Samiti. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the society shut down and its owner, Ramzan, fled. Since then, depositors had been pressuring Shiplu for their money. Jobless and indebted himself, Shiplu was driven into despair, police said. The bodies were sent to Narayanganj General Hospital for autopsy.

Residents said Shiplu had been the manager of another local microcredit cooperative, Rongdhonu Cooperative Society. Its owner, Ramzan Mia, absconded two years ago with crores of taka in customer deposits. Since then, depositors had vented their anger on Shiplu—demanding repayment, threatening him, even though he was just the manager, not the owner.

Neighbor Azizur Rahman said, “People couldn’t find Ramzan, so they vented their fury on Shiplu. Many threatened him: ‘Give us our money, or else…’. But he was just a tenant manager, not the owner. Unable to bear it all, he ended up like this.”

Since COVID, the society had been shut. With no job and no income, Shiplu himself became trapped in debt—borrowing from relatives, taking small loans from NGOs. It became an invisible noose around his neck.

A close relative (requesting anonymity) said, “Shiplu’s dream was to keep his family together. He wanted to send Afran to an English-medium school. But without money, he often quarreled with his wife. With creditors pressing, depositors shouting, family demands mounting—he was mentally broken.”

When police brought out the three bodies in the late afternoon, the entire area was shaken with grief. Many fainted at the sight of the small coffin of the four-year-old boy.

Local housewife Morium Begum, weeping, said: “He could have spared his wife and child. At least he didn’t have to kill them. What was their fault?” Others directed their anger at the society’s absconding owner, Ramzan. “The real criminal is Ramzan, but punishment fell on Shiplu and his family,” they said.

ASP (Crime) Tarek Al Mehdi told reporters: “Our preliminary assumption is that Shiplu suffocated his wife and son before hanging himself. Financial stress and mental depression may have been the cause. But the matter is under investigation. Details will emerge in time.”

Many of Ramzan Samiti’s depositors were middle-class families, small shopkeepers, rickshaw pullers, or housewives from Bou Bazar and nearby areas. They had saved small amounts with hopes for the future—but those dreams shattered when the owner fled.