A Rangpur court on Thursday granted bail to a 16-year-old boy in a murder case filed over the killing of Abu Sayed, a student of Begum Rokeya University.
Judge Mustafa Kamal of the Rangpur Women and Children Repression Prevention Trubinal-1 granted the bail following a hearing.
The 11th-grader of Rangpur Police Lines School and College was arrested on July 16. He was later accused of the murder of Abu Sayed on July 17.
Defence lawyer Jobaidul Islam Bullet said: “The boy is only 16 years and 10 months old. Police have violated the law by making him an accused in the murder case of Abu Sayed, who was killed by police.”
He urged the High Court to impose strict punishment on SI Zillur Rahman of Tajhat police station for arresting the boy without following child protection laws.
“It is illegal to keep an innocent child in jail for 15 days after arresting him in connection with a murder case,” he added.
The lawyer also brought to the court's attention that the video of the police shooting the BRUR student has been widely reported in the national media and has gone viral on social media.
He said that the police were attempting to cover up the incident by arresting the 16-year-old.
Meanwhile, the boy’s mother, Morjina Begum, said: “My talented son was unjustly arrested in Abu Sayed’s murder case. To avoid responsibility for that murder, SI Bibhuti Bhushan of Tajhat police station falsely accused the students of throwing bricks at Abu Sayed, leading to his death. They arrested my son and kept him in jail for 15 days. Will the police take responsibility for the stain they have put on his life?”
On July 16, protesters marched 5 kilometres through the city to Begum Rokeya University, with Sayeed joining them.
Clashes erupted with quota supporters, and police fired rounds of rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
Despite the chaos, Sayeed stood firm, refusing to budge. At one point, he was shot in the chest and fell to the ground.
He was immediately taken to Rangpur Medical College Hospital, where the attending physician declared him dead.
