Another child was viciously killed by three adults who pumped air through the child’s rectum because he had left employment at their garage and taken up a job elsewhere.
The terrible incident took place in Khulna city’s Tutpara area on Monday night – the latest in the series of children’s death from abuse that has come to light recently.
After learning of the child’s death, Tutpara locals gave the three killers a good beating before police intervened and arrested the culprits.
Locals said the child, 12-year-old Md Rakibul Islam, used to work at a motor workshop in the area, owned by Mohammad Sharif, 28, but he left the workshop around seven months ago because he was frequently beaten by Sharif and Mintu Miah, 35, an influential man in the area and a close acquaintance of Sharif.
After leaving Sharif’s workshop, Rakib started working in another workshop at the PTI intersection, which irked Sharif and Mintu to no end, said Zahidur Rahman Zahid, a resident of Tutpara.
On Monday evening, Rakib went to Tutpara to buy paint and was noticed by Mintu, who dragged him into Sharif’s workshop.
In the workshop, Sharif and his mother Beauty Begum, 50, kept a hold on Rakib while Mintu forcefully undressed him, inserted the nozzle of an air compressor in his rectum and started pumping air into his body. As a crowd started gathering in front of the garage, Mintu pulled down the roller shutters of the shop, Zahid told the Dhaka Tribune.
As Rakib’s body started swelling and he became ill, Mintu took him to the nearby Good Health Clinic, from where he was taken to St Martin Clinic, Khulna General Hospital, Khulna Surgical Clinic and then to Khulna Medical College Hospital, said Taposh Kanti Das, sub-inspector at Khulna Sadar police station.
Rakib was on his way to Dhaka on an ambulance when he died around 9pm near Khulna’s Baikali area.
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Following his death, outraged locals broke into Mintu’s garage and started beating Mintu, Sharif and Beauty. Later, police went to the scene and arrested all three, sending Sharif and Mintu to the prison cell of Khuna Medical College Hospital (KMCH) for treatment.
Rakib’s father Nurul Alam filed a murder case with Khulna Sadar police station yesterday, listing Sharif, Mintu and Beauty as accused, said OC Sukumar Biswas.
The post-mortem examination of Rakib’s body was conducted at the KMCH. He was buried yesterday after Asr prayers in Tutpara graveyard.
A grudge that took a child’s life
“My son left their workshop to escape their torture. They used to beat him when he worked there. My son did not want to be beaten every day,” Rakib’s mother Lucky Begum kept repeating these words as she grieved for her only son.
Crying while holding onto her little daughter Rimi, Lucky said Beauty and Mintu had held a grudge against Rakib since he left their workshop.
They used to often visit their residence on Central Road in Tutpara and threatened her, saying Rakib had betrayed them.
“The torturers that my son had wanted to escape killed him in the end,” she wailed.
“I just want justice for my son. Bring justice for my son.”
Zahid, the Tutpara local who witnessed Rakib’s torture, said Rakib had worked in Sharif’s workshop for two years and learnt the tricks of the trade there. So his leaving their workshop angered the three, who thought Rakib was obligated to them.
“Rakib breathed his last on my lap,” said Mizan Howlader, another Tutpara resident. “We were taking an unconscious Rakib to Dhaka for treatment on an ambulance. His head was on my lap. He died just after our ambulance crossed Baikali.”
The report of the post-mortem report is still pending, but sources at the KMCH said Rakib died as his internal organs were fatally damaged from the air pumped into his body.
“His intestines were ruptured,” said one of the doctors who conducted his post-mortem, requesting anonymity.
However, there was no outward sign of torture on Rakib’s body, said Sub-Inspector Taposh. “We did not find any bruise on his body. It was just swollen.”
The horrifying incident sparked an uproar in Tutpara and Khulna city. After attacking Sharif, Mintu and Beauty on Monday night, the locals vandalised the workshop yesterday morning, said Sub-Inspector Kazi Mostaq, investigation officer of the case.
While Sharif and Mintu are undergoing treatment at the KMCH, police sent Beauty to a Khulna court and submitted a plea to place her in remand for 10 days, Mostaq told the Dhaka Tribune.
Protests rage in Khulna
Locals formed a human chain in Tutpara yesterday around 11:45am in protest of Rakib’s killing, Sub-Inspector Mostaq said.
Many have voiced outrage and demanded exemplary punishment of the three culprits. Several organisations have already announced programmes to stage protest in this regard.
Khulna District Mahila Parishad said they would provide all legal support to Rakib’s family. “We want to ensure that they get justice,” said Rasu Akhter, general secretary of the parishad.
Another human chain will be formed at the Picture Palace intersection in Khulna city today at 11am, organised by Jono Udyog Khulna.
Elina Khan, chairperson of Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation, Md Khabiruzzaman, president of its Khulna metropolitan branch, ASM Babar Ali, president of the district unit, and other officials issued statements, condemning the brutal killing and demanding punishment for the killers.
The Child Rights Advocacy Coalition in Bangladesh also condemned the killing and expressed concerns about the overall situation of children’s rights in the country.
Referring to the Children’s Act 2013, which stresses children’s protection, the coalition in a press release expressed hope that the government would revise the existing laws for children’s security in light of recent incidents of child abuse.
