A teenage street urchin succumbed to his injuries yesterday, a couple of days after being beaten severely by a group of people in Mirpur suspecting him to be a thief.
Mohammad Imran Hossain, 15, was declared dead at Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 11am, said Mozammel Haque, inspector at the hospital police outpost.
The body was sent to DMC morgue for an autopsy, he told the Dhaka Tribune. Hailing from Alinagar village of Bhola, Imran used to reside at a slum named Chhoy Number Bosti near Kalyanpur Natun Bazar.
Salma Begum, elder sister of the victim, was found crying in front of the Dhaka Medical College morgue. She claimed that Imran had been innocent.
A couple of days ago, corrugated iron sheets of an under-construction building beside their slum were stolen. Following the incident, the security guard of the building along with some other people beat up Imran badly, she said.
“Later, they dumped the body of injured Imran at a local school ground.”
Salma said Imran had been taken to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital on Sunday. But as his condition deteriorated, he was shifted to the DMCH where duty doctors declared him dead.
Anwar Hossain, sub-inspector of Mirpur police station and investigation officer of the case, told the Dhaka Tribune that police had arrested Abul Kashem, 42, security in-charge (north area) of Kalyanpur Samajkalyan Parishad for interrogation as he was the responsible for maintaining the building’s security.
The accused security guard, however, is on the run since the incident.
The incidents of extrajudicial mass beating have become a common phenomenon, especially in the rural areas of the country, these days.