Bangladesh: Tripura woman killed allegedly by Bengali settlers in Mahalchari

Picture (Courtesy: Kapaeeng Foundation): Ms Ponemala Tripura who was killed allegedly by Muslim Bengali settlers in the mid-night of 3-4 September 2009. The photo was taken on land that Muslim Bengali settlers have been trying to occupy illegally

Submitted by Kapaeeng Foundation

On the night between 3-4 September 2009 one indigenous Tripura woman named Ponemala Tripura (50) w/o Bhibishan Tripura was allegedly killed at Sindukchari village of Sindukchari union under Mahalchari upazila (sub-district) in Khagrachari district. Her dead body was recovered from their Jum (traditional shifting cultivation) field of Sindukchari by the villagers in the morning on 4 September. Four Bengali settlers were suspected to have involved with this killing.

It is learnt that this year Ponemala Tripura and her husband Bhibishan Tripura have cultivated two jum farms for more earnings. Both Husband and wife stayed night separately to protect corps from wild animals at temporary jum houses. They usually worked at their jum farms and stayed separately at two jum farms on 3 September. On that day at dawn her husband Bhibishan Tripura called her but he (husband) did not receive any response from his wife (Ponemala) and went to the jum house where his wife was staying. But he did not found her there. Then Bhibishan suspected that something is wrong. Then and there he informed it to the local Tripura community people and they started searching jointly nearby jungle of jum farms and lastly they found her dead body at one kilo far from her "jum" field.

It is widely believed that she was kidnapped from her jum farm and murdered at the night (3-4 September 2009). This jum farm is two kilometer far from the locality (Tripura village). It is also learnt that she has land dispute with following settler’s leader namely-

1) Md. Afsar Gazi, s/o Hamid Gazi of Sindukchari,

2) Khairul Islam, s/o late Azgar Ali of Sindukchari,

3) Rustam Ali, s/o unknown of Sindukchari,

4) Noab Ali, s/o late Afsar Gazi of Sindukchari in Khagrachari district.

Several times they went there to grab the land of Ponemala. Local Tripura community people and police went to the spot for recovering her body.