Family members of Prity Das, who died by a fatal mischance as unknown miscreants hurled bricks at the train carrying her, recently called for a reform of the existing railway safety practices to avert such avoidable incidents.
At a press conference on Saturday, Mintu Kumar Das, Prity’s husband, placed an 11-point demand in this regard, including one to give “exemplary punishment” to those responsible for her death.
Other family members of the victim were also present at the press conference held at around 11am in the Chittagong Press Club.
Prity, an engineer by profession, died from a head injury that she received when an unidentified group of people hurled bricks at a Dhaka-bound train in Chittagong on August 10.
Her husband and two other relatives were also on board when the incident occurred. She died at Chittagong Medical College Hospital.
Mintu Kumar Das, describing the event, placed their demands which include increasing police patrols at “risky” areas besides railway tracks, creating compensation funds for people affected by railway mishaps, putting medical teams in long-distance trains and a medical kit in each compartment.
Other demands include deploying additional security guards inside trains, keeping railway police on guard in rail stations especially when a train moves through it, and allowing them to open fire at potential security threats.
He also urged railway authorities to spread awareness about train commuting and safety issues through advertisements on billboards and other such media.
“Prity’s incident was not an accident, it was a murder. We demand an immediate arrest of, and strict punishment to, those involved in the incident,” said Mintu.
“We also urge the government to punish those because of whom innocent lives were lost in the past, in the railway sector,” he said. Dilip Das, Prity’s father, also made a similar demands as he faced the journalists.
Earlier in the day, at around 10:30am, Prity’s family members, relatives and friends formed a human chain in front of the press club to press home their demands.
