The bodies of Monika Mridha and her son Sushil were found yesterday with bullet wounds to the neck and head. "Whoever it was, they took advantage of the climate of impunity and violence of the elections. We ask for an exemplary punishment against the perpetrators of this act," the secretary-general of the Bangladesh Christian Association told AsiaNews.

Dhaka (AsiaNews) - The bodies of Monika Mridha, 65, and her son Sushil, 44, were found yesterday in Barisal District, southern Bangladesh. The two Catholics were shot to death. Both were from St Peter Parish Church (pictured). The other son, Somiron, 40, has disappeared.

Nothing is yet know about how and why the two were killed, but some relatives of the victims point the finger at neighbours, a Muslim family, who might have killed them over a piece of land.

Police told AsiaNews that the bodies were found yesterday morning. Currently, they are at a local hospital for the autopsy. No arrests have been made yet.

Leaders of the Bangladesh Christian Association (BCA) visited the place where the bodies were found to hold a moment of prayer.

"Whoever it was, they took advantage of the climate of impunity and violence of the elections," the association's secretary-general, Nirmol Rozario, told AsiaNews. "We ask for an exemplary punishment against the perpetrators of this act."

"We are very concerned about these murders; people live in fear. We pray for peace," said Christopher Robi D'Costa, from the Barisal Pastoral Centre.

• bangladesh
• catholics
• murder
• land
• dispute