\\\'Oishee innocent\\\'

The plaintiff in the case over the murder of police officer Mahfuzur Rahman and his wife told the court that the couple’s daughter, Oishee Rahman, was not involved in the killings. In his witness deposition on Tuesday, plaintiff Mashiur Rahman, brother of the slain Special Branch officer, claimed that his niece was innocent. ‘I strongly believe that my niece did not kill my brother and his wife. My brother was working for the police’s Special Branch (political wing). Some miscreant might have killed him over past animosity,’ he told the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Jahurul Haque. Oishee was present at the court while his uncle was testifying and cross-examined by the defence counsel. The two hugged after Rahman left the witness dock. Rahman asserted that his niece’s birth date is August 17, 1996. On August 16 last year, Special Branch Inspector Mahfuzur and his wife Swapna Begum were stabbed to death at their rented flat in Chamelibagh, Malibagh. Police recovered their bodies two days after the crime. The same day, schoolgirl Oishee, 19, surrendered at the Paltan Police Station along with housemaid 'Sumi'. Later during interrogation, the couple's daughter gave a statement saying she had killed her parents with the help of the housemaid. On Aug 24 last year, a Dhaka court recorded Oishee's confessional statement but she pleaded to the court to retract it. She claimed police had tortured and forced her into giving that statement on Sep 5 the same year. Investigators also found the involvement of her two friends, 'Rony' and 'Jony'. They were later arrested, according to bdnews24.com.