Nineteen days have passed since the mutilated body of 9-year-old Shwadhin was recovered from the River Balu in Khilgaon in the capital. The killers have not been arrested yet.
The victim’s family alleged that the police administration was not playing an active role as the brutal killings were carried out on the fuel of influential circles.
Leaving home, the victim’s family is living inhumanely as the killers had threatened to kill all of the victim’s family after they talked to the media about the murder.
On 4 December, the police recovered the body of Osman Goni Shwadhin from under an under-construction bridge over the River Balu. He went missing on 1 December.
Shawdhin was the son of Shaheen Alam, a resident of Naora village of Kayetpara union in Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj. He was a grade one student at the Paschimpara Government Primary School.
Shaheen Alam, the father of Shwadhin, has been alleging the involvement of Rangdhanu Group Chairman Rafiqul Islam alias Anda Rafiq and his brother Mizanur Rahman, former chairman of Kayetpara union.
He said land grabber Rafiq wanted to grab his house. As he did not agree, Rafiq brutally murdered his son.
Shaheen complained that the police were not trying to arrest the killers. Everyone has seen the body of Shwadhin. His face was disfigured. His body was burned with acid. The killers tried their best to hide the body. Despite all this, the local administration was influenced not to register a murder case.
The family alleged that the autopsy and viscera report were not available even in 19 days due to the direct involvement of the influential gang. As a result, no one involved in the murder was arrested. Instead, they have continuously threatened the victim’s family.
Human rights expert advocate Salma Ali said, “There was a responsibility of the police to investigate properly but they could not do it because of the pressure of the powerful ones. This is only possible when there is a lack of accountability. The police did not perform their duty.”
Commenting that the police should complete the investigation quickly with honesty, she said, those who are influential in society, have muscle power, and money, violate the law. However, the police had to complete the investigation, which did not happen in many cases due to pressure from influential people.
She also said that usually, political leaders occupy people’s land the most, which is a violation of rights. These happen due to a lack of monitoring and accountability of the administration.
Two months before the murder, Rafiq was pressuring Rezaul Alam, the grandfather of the deceased, to sell the house at a nominal price. There was a woman with him. Rezaul made it clear to them that he did not want to sell the house as they would not have a place to live.
He also said that he would inform Rafiq if he wanted to sell it.
However, the old Rezaul’s words could not convince cruel Rafiq. His goons attacked, tortured, and extorted money from the family. The family had been attacked several times in the two months before the murder. Rafiq’s men even attacked Shaheen’s shop twice and beat him up.
Meanwhile, a week before Shwadhin’s murder, Rafiq’s brother Mizanur Rahman came home and threatened Shwadhin’s family. Exactly one week later, Shwadhin went missing. Later, his body was found in the river by his family.
“It has been 19 days, but those involved in my child’s murder are moving freely. My son was the victim of Rafiq and his brother Mizan’s plot to grab the land and house. We are not getting any cooperation from the Rupganj police station administration,” said Umm Hani Munni, the mother of the deceased, on Saturday.
At this time, the atmosphere became heavy with the screams of Shwadhin’s mother. Rezaul Alam was sitting beside him and crying. Wiping her tears, Swadhin’s mother said, “Rafiq has repeatedly attacked our house with his terrorist forces. If we knew he would kill my son, we would have agreed to sell him the house immediately. We still cannot go home because of them.”
Shwadhin’s father Shaheen Alam said, “After the murder of my child, I went to the police and told the names of the criminals. I held a press conference where I said they vandalised my shop. Later they attacked us for talking to the media. At present, I live elsewhere fearing their attack. So far, the police have done nothing.”
“I am seeking justice but the administration is not saying anything. Am I not a citizen of an independent country? Will I get any justice? Why are the police not doing anything to arrest the killers of my son? Shaheen asked.
He said crying, “I did not want money or wealth. I want a fair trial. My biggest pain is those who committed a heinous crime of killing a child are moving freely.”
Complaining that Rafiq can influence the autopsy report in exchange for money, Shaheen said, “It has been 19 days and we have not received the autopsy report of my son.”
He also sought the intervention of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to bring the killers under trial.
Talking about the insecurity, he said, “They are threatening to burn my house. I lost my child and house. Now, I want the security of life. I am staying my days and nights in a panic that they can kill us anytime. The administration should take strict action. Let the child killers be hanged.”
At that moment, the deceased’s grandfather Rezaul started lamenting, “What was my fault? What crime did Shwadhin commit? Why are we not getting justice? They are threatening us that they will destroy everything and we cannot do anything to stop them. They are powerful and they can do it.”
He said his family were threatened to kill as we talked to reporters. Appealing to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for help, he said, “Catch the criminals or shoot us dead.”
Naval Police Dhaka District Superintendent of Police Gautam Kumar Biswas said, “Even though it is not a murder case, we are investigating it with the same importance as a murder case. I can assure you that if this child is killed by someone, we will bring the killers to justice.”
In response to when the post-mortem and viscera report will be available, he said, “It depends on hospital authorities. We sent it on 4 December. We have already contacted the hospital authorities several times.”
“Viscera report is prepared somewhere else, not in hospitals. After receiving the viscera report, doctors give their opinion about the final postmortem report. As far as we know hospital authorities have not yet received the viscera report. We have contacted to get the viscera report quickly and we can know the actual cause of death,” he added.
BDST: 1530 HRS, DEC 24, 2023
