2 Bangladeshis killed in S Africa
A gang of suspected robbers knifed two Bangladeshis to death at their shop in the South African province of Kwa Zulu Natal, 300 kilometres off the capital Pretoria, on Monday.
The dead are Mohammad Shahidullah, son of Mohammad Nurullah of Begumganj in Noakhali and Mohammad Sohel, son of Mohammad Obaidul Haque of Noakhali Sadar.
The victims ran a grocery shop in a remote area of Natal, Bangladesh High Commission First Secretary Mizanur Rahman told The Daily Star yesterday over the phone.
A gang of burglars robbed them of worth Tk 6 lakh in late October.
Following the robbery incident, the two filed a case which led to the arrest of three robbers. They, however, were freed from prison within a week.
Police suspect these robbers stabbed the victims when they were sleeping in their shop in the dead of night.
The bodies of the deceased have been kept at the mortuary of a local hospital. Process was underway to send those back home, said Mizanur.
The two were slain only a week after two more Bangladeshis were killed in another incident in Thabong of Free State province.
The Daily Star could not confirm the identities of the victims.
The Bangladesh mission in South Africa said the victims were sleeping in their shop along with a local black employee.
The employee hit the two with a hammer, which resulted in their deaths.
The Bangladeshis had money with them worth around Tk 10 lakh, mentioned embassy official Mizanur quoting the victim's family members in South Africa.
They were found lying on beds inside a shop on November 1, reported South African daily, The Citizen.
An empty safe and a blood-stained hammer were found nearby. Police suspect robbery as the motive for the murder, added the report.
Around 50,000 Bangladeshis, mostly irregular, are engaged in small grocery businesses in the remote villages of South Africa. They keep their money with them as they cannot remit those through the banking channels.
“Local hoodlums take this chance and make the Bangladeshis their soft targets,” pointed out Mizanur.
Last year, a total of 13 Bangladeshis were slain in the African country.
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