THE unrecognizable charred remains of a mother and her three girl children need no words to describe what a shocking savagery those poor souls were subjected to on the night of Monday. But so far as the reports go, the outrage was part of a revenge killing alleged to have been committed in a premeditated fashion by a neighbour named Jahangir Hossain who had wanted to marry the eldest of the three victim girls, Monira, but failed.

The most disconcerting aspect of the tragedy is that it was not quite unforeseeable. If only those concerned and the police could keep close tabs on the goings-on surrounding the disputes between the two sides over the failed marriage, the heart-rending incident could be averted. It was more so, because the main suspect of the arson attack, Jahangir, was spotted in the evening of the fateful night carrying petrol from a local filling stations. Isn't it surprising that the unusual incident did neither raise any question, nor suspicion in the minds of locals who noticed it?

It is further learnt that after a village arbitration in presence of the upazila chairman nullified Jahangir's bid to marry Monira 10 months ago, he became desperate and started to harass the girl and her family members. One wonders, why didn't the village elders and upazila chairman take steps to protect the girl's family, whose male earning member is an expatriate worker?

The long arm of the law must now catch the culprit and bring him to justice.