Missing boy found dead

A seven-year-old boy was found "murdered" in a cluster of bamboo in Mithapukur village of Banshkhali upazila yesterday three days after he had gone missing.

Police recovered the body of Abul Hashem, a class I student of North Chambal Government Primary School and son of Ahmed Kabir, after locals noticed it 300 yards away from his house.

Hashem said his son went missing on Tuesday as he had gone out of his Mithapukur home in Chambal union to play after having his lunch.

"As we could not find him, I filed a general diary on Thursday," said the father.

The body bore injury marks in the head with some flesh missing below the waist, said Babar Ali, sub-inspector of Banshkhali Police Station, adding that there was a hole in the belly.

The family suspects that the boy was murdered over a land dispute with a neighbour.

They, however, did not reveal the neighbou's name as they will file a case after an autopsy.

The SI said they were investigating the incident.

Incidents of killing, torture and abuse of children are on the rise across the country with brutalities against kids reaching a whole new level.

A total of 37 children were killed from January to mid-February this year, according to Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum, a platform of child rights bodies.