For nearly thirteen agonizing years, elderly couple Shanti Begum and Lal Mia Patwary have been living with an unbearable void, desperately searching for any news of their missing youngest daughter, Hanufa Begum. Hailing from Pearikhola village in Matlab Dakshin upazila of Chandpur, sixteen-year-old Hanufa stepped out of her house for a routine afternoon walk in November 2013 and never returned. Since that fateful day, her aging parents have endured endless grief, holding onto a fading hope that their daughter might somehow return home.
At the time of her disappearance, Hanufa was the youngest among five siblings—four sisters and a brother—and had studied up to the eighth grade at a local madrassah. On the afternoon she vanished, she carried no mobile phone, making immediate communication impossible. When she failed to return by evening, panic set in, prompting family members to scour the surrounding neighborhoods and reach out to distant relatives, all to no avail.
In the wake of the tragedy, the family filed a general diary (GD) with the Matlab Dakshin police station, and extensive inquiries were conducted by law enforcement agencies. However, despite the passage of over a decade, neither the police nor the family has uncovered any concrete clues regarding her whereabouts. Relatives assert that Hanufa had no known romantic entanglements or personal disputes, deepening the baffling mystery of how a young girl could vanish without a trace from her own neighborhood.
The prolonged absence of their daughter has taken a devastating toll on the family's well-being. Lal Mia Patwary suffered a debilitating stroke a few years ago and now remains bedridden and paralyzed, while Shanti Begum has plunged into profound psychological trauma due to relentless mourning. She rarely speaks to anyone and spends her days weeping, yearning desperately to see her daughter just once more before her life comes to an end.
Though local spiritual healers and astrologers offered no comforting answers, the family's anguish remains as raw as it was on day one. As time marches on, Hanufa's elderly parents continue to appeal to the authorities and the public, hoping that someone might come forward with information that could finally bring closure or reunite them with their long-lost child.
