Police recovered the hanging body of a Jatiyatabadi Mohila Dal leader from her rented house in Feni town on Wednesday evening.

The body of Roksana Akhter Lipi, 31, was recovered around 6:30pm from a locked room on the second floor of a six-storey building named Khalek Mansion on Mokchedur Rahman Road under Ward No 11 of Feni Municipality.

Lipi was the daughter of Abul Bashar Badsha Mia of Kachim Bazar in Sonagazi upazila and the wife of Dulal Hossain, an expatriate in the United States. She lived in the rented flat with her 13-year-old daughter.

She was the convener of Ward No 11 Mohila Dal and a member of the municipal BNP.

Golam Mostafa, sub-inspector of Feni Model Police Station, said the main door of the flat was locked from inside and the body was found hanging from the ceiling fan with a georgette veil tied around her neck. A mobile phone used by the deceased has been seized.

According to family members, Lipi had been actively involved in campaigning for the paddy sheaf candidate in the 13th National Parliament elections. Due to political engagements, she had recently sent her daughter to stay at her maternal grandmother’s house nearby.

When relatives failed to reach her by phone, they went to the flat and found the door locked from inside. Later, her body was seen hanging with a veil tied around her neck. Police and fire service personnel broke open the door, recovered the body and sent it to Feni General Hospital morgue for autopsy.

Some local Mohila Dal leaders alleged that no senior BNP leader visited the hospital hours after her death.

Lipi’s younger sister Pinky said she had lived with her sister until five days ago and that there had been no known problems in her marital life. ‘I don’t understand why she would do this,’ she said.

District Mohila Dal organising secretary Nur Tanzila said Lipi had been closely involved in party activities and that they last spoke on February 9, the final day of the election campaign. She said it was not yet clear whether the death was a suicide or murder and demanded a fair investigation.

OC Gazi Muhammad Fouzul Azim said police initially suspect it to be a suicide. Further details will be known after investigation and autopsy, he added.