At least two victims of Monday’s underage drunk-driving SUV accident have been paid off by the suspect’s uncle, who insisted that the money was only a “compensation.”
Shoave Rahman, the uncle, also said the medical bills for all the four victims injured in the accident have already been paid.
Courtesy: Nurul Bashir
Shoave told the Dhaka Tribune that the compensations paid to the two victims were in no way to deter them from filing any case.
But a well-placed police source, on condition of anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune that the victims have confirmed to the police that they would not file any case if the offenders agreed to pay their medical expenses.
The source, however, said even if the victims do not file a case against the minor, the police might still go ahead and file a case themselves charging the teen suspect of driving without a licence.
When asked about the suspect’s where- abouts, Shoave said his nephew was still in the country and living with the family.
Shoave further claimed that his nephew had been sober when the accident took place.
Courtesy: Nurul Bashir
However, the police earlier said the 16-year-old suspect – whose name has been withheld considering his age – was drunk when the SUV he was driving rammed into two rickshaws in Dhaka’s Gulshan on Monday, leaving four people injured.
Following the accident, alcohol was found inside the SUV, while the teen also had no driving license, police sources said.
Among the injured, three have already left the city’s United Hospital after getting their treatment. Another man named Rafiqul Islam is still being treated for a head injury, but is expected to make a full recovery within a few days.
One of the victims, a rickshaw-puller named Abdul Hakim said that getting compensated and having someone else pay his medical bill was a better option for him than filing a case.
“I need money more than justice,” Hakim said while talking to the Dhaka Tribune at a rickshaw garage in Boubazar yesterday.
Also Read: No cases in underage SUV driver injuring four
Hakim said his brother-in-law, also named Rafiqul Islam, had arranged for him to be compensated. Rafiqul told the Dhaka Tribune that Humayun, the other rickshaw-puller who was injured in the accident, had received Tk8,500 as compensation.
Meanwhile, a police source said their hands are tied in moving forward with the case as they were facing pressure from above.
But as part of procedural actions following the incident, the police continue to keep the SUV and its documents under their possession. The car might be used as part of the seizure list if anyone were to file a case later on.
