Baraigram (Natore) Correspondent:

A grandmother in Baraigram, Natore, has been accused of killing her two-year-old grandson by mixing poison in juice. The child named Nur Islam died on the way to the hospital on Saturday evening. The incident took place that afternoon at the house of Shahadat Shah in Ikri village of the upazila. The child Nur is the only child of Shakil Ahmed and Payel Khatun of Sonabaju Purbapara village of Gurudaspur upazila of the district.

The accused grandmother's name is Sakhina Begum (45). She is the wife of Abdul Motaleb of Sonabaju Purbapara village. Meanwhile, after receiving the news of the child's death, the villagers tied the grandmother to the window of the house and severely beat her. After receiving the news, the police went to rescue her.

According to police and local sources, about three and a half years ago, Payel Khatun, daughter of Jahangir Hossain of Rolla village of Baraigram upazila, married Shakil Hossain, son of Abdul Motaleb of Sonabaju village, in a family arrangement. Since the marriage, the daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law had been arguing. She even used to beat her up occasionally. The last time, about three months ago, Shakil went to his in-laws' house with his wife when he beat her up again and injured her.

On Friday, Shakil went to the house of his uncle Shahadat Shah in the same upazila's Ikri village with his wife and children to attend a wedding. Due to a ceremony at a relative's house, he met his son and his son's wife along with his grandson, Sakhina Begum.

Daughter-in-law Payel Khatun said that on Saturday, her uncle's brother-in-law's wedding ceremony was going on. At around 12 noon, she took the opportunity to go out after putting her son to sleep, and at around 1:30 pm, her mother-in-law woke the child up and fed him juice. After that, her mother-in-law suddenly left the wedding house for her own home.

Shortly after, when her son fell ill, she was rushed to the Baraigram Upazila Health Complex. The doctor on duty informed her that it was poisoning and asked her to take him to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital. On the way there, the child died at a hospital near Natore town. Payal claimed that her mother-in-law had deliberately mixed poison in the juice and fed it to her son to separate the family.

However, grandmother Sakhina Begum said, "My son bought the juice himself. I also drank that juice, and I fed it to Nur Islam and my daughter's grandson. Nothing happened to us, but I don't know how Nur died. The son's wife is saying this to frame me because of a family feud."

Officer-in-charge of Baraigram Police Station Golam Sarwar Hossain said, "Preparations for an accidental death case are currently underway at the police station in this incident. The child's body has been sent to the morgue. Further action will be taken after receiving the autopsy report to know the exact cause of his death."