No child rights bodies in the country, including the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), have yet taken any effective initiative to challenge the remand order for Oishee and Sumi apart from criticising the decision.
They said the remand had been granted in a flawed way violating child rights, but they could not take any step as there had been confusion about the age of Oishee Rahman, daughter of the slain Special Branch inspector Mahfuzur Rahman.
The child rights organisations are also in the dark as to which of the laws the Children Act 1974 or its amended version of 2013 should be considered to deal with her case.
The Children Act 1974 defined a child as a person aged up to 16 years. The amended law, which came into effect on August 21, defines a person under 18 years as a child in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Children.
“We were confused about what to do, but we have been discussing the matter since the day Oishee was taken in remand,” said Md Emranul Huq Chowdhury, chairman of Bangladesh Shishu Odhikar Forum (child rights forum).
“The debate over Oishee’s age and the confusion about which children act is in effect in the country at present prevented us from taking any measure,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
However, when it was pointed out that there was no debate over the age of Sumi, domestic help at Oishee’s house, Emran said they would issue a statement “expressing concern regarding her very soon.”
SB inspector Mahfuzur Rahman, 48, and his wife Swapna Rahman, 40, were found dead in their Chamelibagh flat on August 16. Oishee, an O level student who had been missing since August 16, surrendered to Paltan police the next day and was taken to the office of the Detective Branch of police. The DB also detained domestic help Sumi Begum, 10, and Oishee’s boyfriend Mizanur Rahman Rony, 25.
On August 18, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mizanur Rahman placed the three on five days’ police remand in connection with their alleged involvement in the murder.
On August 19, National Human Rights Commission Chairman Mizanur Rahman told the bdnews24.com that placing Oishee and Sumi on remand had been a violation of child rights. Commission member Kazi Reazul Haque on Saturday told the Dhaka Tribune: “As far as I know the commission is yet to take any step regarding Oishee and Sumi . We need interpretations [of the child act] from legal experts since there is a complication regarding this particular case.
“Since the 1974 act was in effect when the murder took place, we need to know from legal experts whether or not Oishee should be treated as a child.”
Since the murder police on several occasions have mentioned Oishee’s age as 16 years and Sumi’s 10. But in the remand forwarding application they wrote Oishee was 18 years old and Sumi 15.
According to records at Oishee’s school, she was born on August 17, 1996.
In the remand forwarding plea the police said Oishee had killed her parents with the help of her drug-addict friends and domestic help Sumi. After five days of remand, however, they told the media that Oishee had given confusing statements about the murders during the remand.
Meanwhile, Moshiur Rahman Rubel, brother of the slain SB officer, told reporters that he did not believed in Oishee’s involvement with the gruesome killing “there might be another mystery behind it.”
Advocate Salma Ali, executive director of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association, told the Dhaka Tribune that her organisation was likely to pray for bail for the two minors.
“We are trying to fix the flaws we have made. Both of them were supposed to get counselling, a probation officer and care [as per the Children Act 2013]. They did not receive anything,” Salma said.
According to the Children Act 2013, any child accused or convicted of any offence is termed a “child in conflict with the law.” Such children will have to be tried in juvenile courts.
After the remand period ended, Oishee and Sumi were sent to Gazipur Juvenile Development and Correctional Centre on Saturday.