Hill Voice, 13 April 2026, Cox’s Bazar: A 16-year-old indigenous girl from the Chakma community was allegedly murdered by being crushed with a pillow after a failed rape attempt in Ramu, Cox’s Bazar. The incident took place on the intervening night of 11-12 April 2026.

The victim’s name is Maya Chakma (16), father: Kyawching Chakma, mother: Rachingma Chakma, address: Telkhola village, Ward No. 6, Palangkhali Union, Ukhia Police Station, Cox’s Bazar district.

According to local sources, Maya Chakma had been working as a maid in a house of Sadhan Barua in Meroruwa village, Pashchim Para, Ramu, Cox’s Bazar district, for about a year.

A few months before the incident, Maya was contacted by her father on the phone. Maya was quite happy and everything was fine. Once, when her father, Kyawching Chakma, asked his daughter to go home, Maya said, “Her house owner, Sadhan Barua, will bring her home before the first day of Baishakh.” When she requested her father to stay for a few more days, he agreed to let her stay.

But like every day, on the morning of April 12, when Maya’s father called to contact his daughter, no one answered, meaning no one at Sadhan Barua’s house answered the phone.

Maya’s father kept thinking that they might be busy with work, so he didn’t call anyone again and later his phone went dead because it didn’t have enough charge.

Then, on Sunday (April 12), at around 4:00/5:00 PM, Maya’s aunt received a call from Sadhan Barua’s house, saying, “Come here quickly.” The call was then disconnected.

Then, as soon as Maya’s family received the call, they immediately left for Ramu. When they reached Sadhan Barua’s house in Ramu around 8 pm, they found their daughter’s body covered in white cloth.

When Sadhan Barua was asked the reason for this incident, they (Maya’s family members) were told that Maya committed suicide by hanging herself.

However, Maya’s parents and no one present at the scene could accept the incident as a suicide and they could not find any logical reason for Maya to choose the path of suicide. They all believe that Maya did not commit suicide, but rather she was murdered in a planned manner. They also said that they did not find any signs of hanging on Maya’s neck.

It is learnt that Sadhan Barua’s two sons live abroad. One of his sons returned home from France a few days ago. Many believe that it was that son who failed to rape Maya and killed her by smothering her with a pillow.

On the other hand, Sadhan Barua reminded Kyawching Chakma of their financial plight, saying, “Your daughter committed suicide. You are poor people, if you file a case, the police will not accept your case without money. Don’t file a case about your daughter’s incident. Instead, I will bear all the expenses of your daughter’s funeral activities. Forget about filing a case.”

After hearing such words from Sadhan Barua, Kyawching Chakma became convinced that his daughter had been murdered in a planned manner.

They demanded a thorough investigation into Maya’s death and immediate legal action against the killers, demanding exemplary punishment.