Hafizul Islam left home, telling his wife, Aklima Akter, that he was going for a walk. Tragically, he never returned. Concerned when his phone was unreachable, Aklima began searching for him and eventually discovered his blood-stained shirt and vest. Fearing the worst, she continued her search but found no trace of her husband. Finally, his lifeless body, riddled with shotgun wounds, was located in a hospital.
Hafizul Islam, 25, was a resident of Naogaon village in Fulbaria upazila, Mymensingh, and the son of the late Shahidullah. He was the middle of three brothers. In 2017, he married Aklima Akter from Krishnapur village, and together they had a four-year-old daughter, Sumaiya Akter.
Relatives reported that Hafizul worked as a factory worker at a garment manufacturing unit near the Ansar Academy in Shafipur, Gazipur. He lived with his wife and daughter in the Bishwashpara area. On the afternoon of August 4, around 5 PM, Hafizul left home after informing his wife that he was going for a stroll. Several neighbors accompanied him. While the others returned by evening, Hafizul did not.
Aklima, unable to reach her husband by phone, went outside to search for him. Local residents informed her that gunfire had erupted in the Bishwashpara area, leaving several people injured. Alarmed, Aklima rushed to the scene. There, she discovered her husband’s bloodied clothes hanging from a tree by the roadside. Overwhelmed with grief, she broke down but soon resumed her search with renewed determination.
Aklima recounted, “When I couldn’t find my husband, I sent a relative to Kumudini Hospital in Mirzapur, Tangail, with his photograph and details. On the night of August 5, around 9 PM, we searched several wards, but Hafizul was nowhere to be found. Eventually, we located his body in the hospital morgue. His entire body had been riddled with bullets.”
Devastated by the loss of her husband, Aklima now seeks justice for the brutal killing. Hafizul was laid to rest on August 6 in his hometown. Reflecting on her loss, Aklima shared, “I have been made a widow, and my daughter, an orphan. My in-laws are no longer alive, and my daughter often cries for her father. When her grief becomes overwhelming, I take her to stand beside her father’s grave, where she offers prayers.”
