Woman found dead in Pallabi apartment

Police recovered the partially decomposed body of a woman from her apartment in Dhaka’s Pallabi area early Wednesday, with preliminary findings suggesting she had died several days earlier.

The deceased was identified as Selina Afroz, 55.

Pallabi Police Station Officer-in-Charge Hasan Basir said Selina had been living alone in a flat in Block C of Section 6, while her husband and three children reside in Canada.

The body was found on the floor of the apartment, with the door locked from the inside. It was sent to the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital morgue for an autopsy, he said.

According to police and family members, Selina returned to Bangladesh around 12 years ago and had since been living in the family-owned flat. She had been separated from her husband due to family disputes.

Ramizul Haidar, Selina’s nephew-in-law, said she inherited the four-storey building and lived alone on the second floor. Her elder sister, who is ill, lives on the top floor, while the lower floors remain vacant.

He said Selina met her expenses through rental income from two apartments in a nearby building.

Family members last spoke to her two days before Eid-ul-Azha and had not seen her since. After learning about the recent recovery of another woman’s body in the neighbourhood, relatives checked on Selina and noticed a foul smell coming from her flat before informing police.

Police said the exact cause of death will be known after the autopsy report is received.

The incident comes days after police recovered the body of elderly resident Nurjahan Begum from a nearby apartment in Pallabi, prompting discussion on social media about elderly people living alone.

Selina was buried at a graveyard in Mirpur on Wednesday evening.