Xulhaz's mother still doesn't know the truth

The 76-year-old retired teacher who has a faltering memory now only remembers the incident infrequently, and at those moments her family placates her with the lie that Xulhaz is alive and has gone abroad for treatment. “Sometimes she asks about Xulhaz. We tell her that Xulhaz went outside the country for treatment,” younger son Minhaj Mannan Emon told the Dhaka Tribune over phone yesterday. Sakhina, a former headmistress of Motijheel Government Girls School, was moved to Emon’s home after the gruesome incident. “Mother’s physical condition is not good. We are not telling her anything. We don’t want to remind her of that,” Emon said. USAID employee and LGBT magazine Roopbaan editor Xulhaz Mannan was killed along with his friend Mahbub Tonoy at his Kalabagan residence on April 25. Al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent has claimed the murder, saying Police reports and accounts from family members say that Sakhina and a housemaid were at home during the incident. When the killers attacked Xulhaz and Tonoy with machetes, Sakhina was sleeping. She woke up hearing the commotion and came to the living room where she tried to save the victims from the attackers. The killers threw a chair at Sakhina and she was injured in the leg. After the killers fled Sakhina tried for some time to pull Xulhaz up but failed. First responders found her standing at the scene of the crime. Xulhaz was a cousin of former foreign minister Dipu Moni. He had also served as a protocol officer at the US Embassy in Dhaka. Tonoy was also an LGBT and theater activist.Tonoy’s father: Allah will judge themTonoy’s father Khandakar Nur-E Rabby told the Dhaka Tribune his son was the victim of cruel fate, as he happened to be at Xulhaz’s flat only by chance. “He had an exam that day. After the exam he went to see Xulhaz to talk about getting a visa to America,” he said. “I’ve heard that three hours before the incident the killers came looking for Xulhaz at his building. But he was not there at that time,” Rabby said. “I have nothing to say about this matter. It was so unexpected. So I didn’t file any case. Police and Xulhaz’s brother have filed the case. I want justice. Allah will judge Tonoy’s murderers,” he said. He urged the government not to let these sorts of incidents be repeated. Rabby said he was not aware of any progress in the investigation. Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch is in charge of the investigation. Police have seized footage from several CCTV cameras near Xulhaz’s building in Kalabagan that purports to show several of the killers’ faces. A sub inspector who was injured in a scuffle with one of the killers while they were getting away also managed to snatch his bag. Police are saying important evidence was found in it. DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said police were hopeful the murders would be solved, but they needed some time.