Bangladesh, May 13 -- Two children in school uniforms stand outside the iron gates of Lakshmipur District Prison, their faces etched with fear and confusion. One is in the fifth grade, the other in the second.

They do not understand why their mother, Farhana Akter Shilpi, has suddenly disappeared.

Inside the prison, Shilpi cradles her youngest child, Siam, just two and a half years old, who has no comprehension of the iron bars now defining his world.

Shilpi, a resident of Sahapur in Lakshmipur municipality, lived a quiet life with her husband, Ismail Hossain, and three children.

That changed on 15 April, when a neighbour filed an assault case against her, alleging she struck him on the head with a rod.

Although medical reports desc...