Tea workers demanded exemplary punishment of those responsible for the 'mysterious death' of a child from an ethnic minority community, which occurred at the residence of The Daily Star Executive Editor Syed Ashfaqul Haque in the capital.

They have made the demand from separate demonstrations staged in Kamalganj upazila of Moulvibazar district on Saturday and Sunday.

The demonstrators sought proper investigation into the death of Preeti Urang, 15, who used to work as a domestic help at the house of the journalist.

A human was formed in Kamalganj on Sunday under the banner of ‘Bangladesh Tea Workers Federation’.

Before the protest, the central leaders of ‘Bangladesh Tea Workers Federation’ went to Preeti Urang’s house in Mirtinga Tea Estate in Kamalganj upazila of the district.

Preeti's parents told them that their youngest daughter went to work at the residence of Syed Ashfaqul Haque through journalist Mintu Deshwara.

From the beginning, Preeti was not allowed to have much contact with the family members, they alleged.

Federation general secretary Dipankar Ghosh, organising secretary Kiran Shukla Baidya, finance secretary Prem Kumar Paul and Samajtantrik Chhatra Front district unit president Biswajit Nandi visited the victim’s family.

Besides, all the workers of Mirtinga Tea Estate and local people and public representatives formed a human chain in the tea estate area, protesting the death of the minor domestic help.

Rahimpur Union Parishad Chairman Iftekhar Ahmed Badrul, Mirtinga Cha Bagan Panchayat President Montu Alamik and Awami League leader Surutyan Kanti Baidya spoke at the protest programme.

Speakers demanded highest punishment for those who were responsible for Preeti’s death through proper investigation into the incident. 

Dhona Bauri, president of Manu-Dalai Valley unit of ‘Bangladesh Tea Workers Federation’, said, “The death of Preeti Urang is really sad and none of us knew that she went to work in Dhaka.”

“Preeti's uncle and Daily Star's Moulvibazar correspondent Mintu Deshwara secretly sent her to Dhaka. We demand that exemplary punishment be meted out to those who were involved in Preeti's murder following investigation,” he said.

Domestic help Preeti Urang died after falling from the 8th floor of the building adjacent to Geneva Camp on Shahjahan Road in Mohammadpur on 6 February.

Victim’s father Lokesh Urang filed a case over the incident.

In the case statement, he said his daughter had been sent to Dhaka two years ago to work as a domestic help, aiming to alleviate their family’s financial struggles. Throughout this period, Preeti, a member of ethnic Urang community, never visited her family with Lukesh relying on occasional phone calls to the house owner to stay in touch.

Police arrested Syed Ashfaqul Haque and his wife Tania Khondoker in the case. They were interrogated at the gate of Keraniganj Central Jail on Saturday following a court order.

After Preeti’s death, Mintu Deshwara told the family members to go to Sreemangal on 6 February. When they went to Sreemangal, he told them that their daughter was seriously ill and asked them to accompany him to Dhaka.

When they went to Dhaka with journalist Mintu Deshwara, Preeti’s parents were directly taken to the police station where they came to know that the girl died after falling from the 8th floor.

Lokesh alleged that it was a planned murder and demanded punishment for those responsible.

While talking to Preeti's family, the leaders of Tea Workers Federation said journalist Mintu Deshwara should have made arrangements for sending the girl to school instead of Dhaka for working as a domestic help.

Locals staged demonstration outside the house after the incident, alleging that Preeti was murdered. 

Later, Syed Ashfaqul Haque, his wife Tania and four others were taken to Mohammadpur Police Station for interrogation. The couple was shown arrested in the case but the four others were released after interrogation.

Preeti’s death was surrounded in mystery as another domestic help, Ferdausi, fell from the balcony of journalist Syed Ashfaqul Haque’s house in the same manner on 6 August 2023, leaving her seriously injured.

She was rescued and taken to Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital and later shifted to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital.

The victim’s mother, Josna Begum, then filed a case against Syed Ashfaqul Haque, his wife Tania and another person named Asma Akhtar Shilpi. 

Josna lamented that they are yet to get justice due to the influence of the journalist.

BDST: 2144 HRS, FEB 11, 2024
MN/SMS