A 58-year-old man died during a village arbitration meeting (salish) in Chattogram’s Hathazari area on Friday night, following tensions over the alleged abduction and forced marriage of his teenage daughter.
The incident took place at Sandwip Colony in the Chowdhuryhat area, where locals claim the man, Fakhrul Islam, was beaten during a heated mediation and later died from his injuries.
According to police, the cause of death is yet to be confirmed, and an autopsy report is awaited. They acknowledged that there was commotion during the salish but stopped short of confirming whether Fakhrul was indeed assaulted.
Local residents said that Fakhrul’s 14-year-old daughter was allegedly abducted and married by a neighboring youth named Rifat on July 27.
Following the incident, Fakhrul’s family filed a general diary with police. The girl was later rescued from Subarnachar in Noakhali on July 28 and returned to her family’s custody.
In an attempt to resolve the matter, a mediation meeting was held between the two families on Friday night.
Eyewitnesses allege that the meeting turned violent, and members of the groom’s side physically attacked Fakhrul. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
Additional Superintendent of Police (Hathazari Circle) Kazi Md Tarek Aziz told media that a complaint had been previously filed over the abduction and underage marriage.
“We’ve been informed that an arbitration took place and there was chaos. Fakhrul reportedly fell ill during the meeting,” he said.
Tarek Aziz added that the family claims Fakhrul was beaten to death, but the exact cause of death will only be confirmed after the postmortem. No arrests have been made so far, but several individuals have been detained for questioning.
