Representational Image.

DHAKA, May 10, 2026 (BSS) - Begum Rokeya appeared to be a pioneer of women's development in Bangladesh, emerging as a true fighter. Following the lifelong struggle of Begum Rokeya, Beauty Akhter of Payrabanda in Rangpur district currently becomes successful female entrepreneur. 

She achieved success as an entrepreneur and became the owner of a handicraft shop. 

Beauty Akhter got married at her early age. After marriage, she was pressured to take dowry from her father's house, bringing continued mental torture for her. In the meantime, she gave birth to a daughter. Even after her daughter's birth, she was continuously suppressed by her husband's family members for dowry. At one stage, she left her husband and moved to her father's house with her two-year-old child.

As Beauty Akhter was a freedom-loving person, she didn't feel like being a burden on her brother's family. So, she tried to do something herself. At the end, Beauty Akhter found success as an entrepreneur with the ownership of a handicraft shop naming 'Begum Rokeya Handicrafts' shop Khor Muradpur in Pairaband union of Mithapukur upazila in Rangpur district.

The twenty nine years old female entrepreneur sells different products such as wall mats, dining mats, papas, children's toys and chess as she sees a good sale every day. Tourists come to visit Pairaband, the birthplace of Begum Rokeya, and buy these products.

Beauty said she grew up in poverty since childhood. If she had one meal, she would have to fast the next, she said.

She also said that her father passed away when she was child. She grew up in her brother's family. At the age of 13, she got married to a young man from Rangpur city in 2004 as her in-laws were unhappy with her. 

"They also made various negative comments. They constantly pressured her for dowry. They tried to force her to bring money from home. But her family could not afford to pay this money. As a result, her conjugal life did not last long," she said. 

Beauty said she returned to that familiar village home with her two-year-old child. Her siblings could not accept Beauty's move very well, she added. 

However, Beauty thought of not being a burden to anyone. She wanted to survive. She thought she has to raise her child as well. Despite all this hardship, Beauty also passed her HSC from Bangladesh Open University.

Beauty said that looking at the child's face, she went to a man named Rafiqul Islam of Pairaband in search of work. He has a library in the village. In 2008, she started working with readers in the library. In return, she started receiving only Taka 600 as an honorarium. With that, she could somehow feed the child. Beauty worked in that library until 2014. 

She said, "In 2015, I got a job as a salesperson at Begum Rokeya Handicrafts Shop in Khor Muradpur village of Pairaband. I continued the education of my child with the salary. Now my child has passed HSC."

The first owner left the shop in 2019 because the business faced a bad period. 

Beauty bought the shop for a small amount of money. She received loan from a private bank and opened a handicraft shop there herself. 

Now Beauty is happy as the business is in good shape. 

Seeing Beauty's struggling life, many other women at Pairaband are encouraged to do something. 

Some women buy clothes from the city and sell them in the village market. Some have opened cloth shops. Some make handicraft products and sell them in villages and cities. 

A woman named Roksana said, "If Beauty can do it, why can't we do? We have started making clothes and selling them in Pairaband and its surrounding areas." 

Rafiqul Islam, a local resident and entrepreneur of the Begum Rokeya Memorial Library, said: "Beauty is the child of a landless family. But, now she became self-reliant. This is an example".