Siblings aged 2 and 8 killed by live-wire 'trap' around mango tree

Two siblings aged two and eight died after being electrocuted by a live wire set up around a mango tree to prevent theft of the fruits in Dhaka's Demra area this afternoon.

Police said that owners of the house where the mango tree is located wrapped the live wire around the tree and the two children were electrocuted when they went near the tree. 

The deceased were identified as Arian Mia, a local madrasa student, and his younger brother Raihan Mia. They lived in the same area.

The victims' mother, Anny Begum, said she rushed to the spot from the nearby factory she works in after learning about the incident. She said she removed her two children from the live wire.

Later, locals took them to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors declared them dead, police said.

"They attached a live wire to the tree. Is that something a human being can do?" Anny Begum said.

"Are their fruits more important than the lives of my babies?" asked the mother in tears. "I toiled a lot to raise my babies. I want my babies back."

The victims' father, Marfot Mia, said, "They killed my two babies to protect their mangoes."

The victims' family members and locals alleged that after the incident, the house owners blamed the children for going there. He fled before the police could reach there, locals said.

Yeasin Arafat, a resident of a nearby house, said the house owners had wrapped electric wires around the tree so that no one could take mangoes. They did the same thing last year.

The bodies were sent to the hospital morgue for autopsy.

Shafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Demra Police Station, said they brought four residents of the house to the police station for questioning.

The owners wrapped the live wire around the tree to prevent people taking the mangoes, he said, adding that one Dipu, a resident of the house, fled before police could reach the area. 

"We are investigating the incident," he said.