‘Is it wrong to demand justice for my sons killed in front of my eyes?’

“I don’t have a husband and my sons have been killed. The killers are relentless. After killing my two sons, they are now threatening to kill if I don’t withdraw the case. I have seen my sons getting killed right in front of my eyes. Is it wrong to demand trial of the killers?”

Sufiya Begum, 60, the plaintiff of the case filed over killing four people inside a mosque in Madaripur, was saying this at the human chain and demonstration held in protest of the killing in front of the Madaripur DC office.

Locals and four relatives of the victim joined the hour-long protest. After that, the demonstrators submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner (DC) Yeasmin Akter.

Earlier, on 8 March, three people were killed over old enmity and dispute centering sand business. The deceased were identified as Ataur Rahman alias Atabur, 35; his brother Saiful Islam alias Hitter Saiful, 30 and their cousin Palash Sardar, 17.

Deceased Saiful was the organising secretary of Khoyajpur union Swechchhasebak League. Two more people sustained critical injuries in the incident. They are Alil Sarder, 40 and Tajel Hawladar, 20. Later, Tajel died while undergoing treatment. He was a neighbour of Saiful. Meanwhile, critically injured Alil Sardar is still undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital

Speakers at the human chain said the incident of killing four people inside a mosque is quite rare in the history of the country. The accused are trying to exert influence. They are threatening the plaintiff and the relatives of the deceased daily. Although the police have been informed about this, they are not taking it seriously.

The police are not playing a responsible role in detaining the accused, rather they are favouring the killers, the speakers claimed at the human chain.

The three sons of the plaintiff of the case came under attack on 8 March. Two of them were killed on the spot. However, her eldest son Alil Sardar somehow survived the attack.

He said, “I still can’t believe that I am alive. I'm not supposed to survive with the amount of head injuries I have on my body and the way they stabbed me. Allah saved me. I have seen my own brothers and a cousin getting killed in front of my eyes. I have also seen the killers. So they want to kill me now. They are putting pressure on my mother to withdraw the case.”

Speaking regarding this, Madaripur assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Jahangir Alam said, “A total of eight persons, including Shahjahan Khan, have been arrested so far over the incident. The police are conducting drives to detain the remaining accused.

None of the people who were involved in such a brutal killing will be spared. Nobody filed a complaint in writing regarding threatening the plaintiff. We will provide all sorts of legal assistance to the plaintiff if they file any complaint in this regard.

According to the case statement, union Swecchasebak league organising secretary Saiful Sardar has been extracting sand illegally from the river Kirtinasha, which led to dispute with Shahjahan Khan, former office secretary of district Jubo Dal and Hossen Sarder, a local sand trader.

Following that, a group of people led by Shahjahan Khan and Hossen Sarder assaulted Saiful and his brothers. A day after the incident, Saiful’s mother Sufiya Begum filed a murder case with the Sadar model police station as the plaintiff.