Death of O level student: Parents mulling second lawsuit over age, case manipulation

The parents of the O level student who was raped in Dhaka's Kalabagan area and pronounced dead on arrival at a private hospital on Thursday have said they will file another case, claiming the case had been manipulated.

The victim’s mother said the family had wanted to file the first case against four people, but police registered just one name: Fardin Iftekhar Dihan.

The woman and her husband, the deceased’s father, alleged that police and hospital authorities had manipulated their daughter’s age during the filing of the case.

The parents made the remarks while addressing reporters after their daughter had been buried next to her grandparents at Gopalpur graveyard in Kushtia Sadar upazila yesterday morning. 

The victim was just 17 years old and born in 2003, as stated in her birth certificate and passport, the parents added.

“But they (police and hospital authorities) wrote 19 instead, to weaken the case. Also, we urged police to name four people in the case, but just one was accused in it,” they told reporters. 

“If needed, we will file another lawsuit after returning to Dhaka,” the mother said.

“They killed my underage daughter through their tricks. This is an incident of abduction and murder after rape. No parent could accept this,” she added. 

Seeking the prime minister’s intervention in the matter, they demanded that the case be transferred to a speedy trial tribunal and all those involved be arrested. 

The victim’s father said he had named four people, including Dihan, in the FIR and all of them were initially detained.

“But an hour later, Kalabagan police recorded the case showing Dihan as the only accused by manipulating my complaint,” he said. 

He also said police at the time told him that Dihan alone had been sued as the crime scene was in his house and it would help them get justice. 

“However, after talking to doctors, I firmly believe that the brutality unleashed on my daughter was not possible just by a single person,” the father added.

The victim was raped and died due to haemorrhagic shock and excessive bleeding, a forensic expert at Dhaka Medical College said yesterday after performing an autopsy on the body.

On Thursday night, the girl's father filed a case with Kalabagan Police Station against Fardin Iftekhar Dihan -- an 18-year-old who has recently passed his A level examinations. 

Police refute allegations of case manipulation

Sazzadur Rahman, deputy commissioner (Ramna Division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told newsmen the complaint about increasing the victim’s age by two years was incorrect. 

“The hospital and medical test records show she was 19. Medical documents with the same age were signed by her relatives as well,” he said.

The police official further said the actual age would be ascertained once the result of samples collected from the victim came in. 

Regarding the allegation of dropping three names from the case record, he said: “The case was filed in line with the application of the plaintiff. Police had nothing to do with that. Police can’t add or omit names from the case docket.” 

Three friends of Dihan, who were detained for interrogation after the O level student’s death, were released from police custody on Friday night. 

The trio may be questioned if needed, Sazzad told Bangla Tribune.  

According to the case statement, the victim left her house at around 11:45am on Thursday, when she told her mother over the phone that she was going to a coaching class.

Dihan called the victim's mother at 1:18pm and said her daughter had gone to his house in the Kalabagan area, where she had fallen sick. He told the victim’s mother to go to the emergency department of Anwer Khan Modern Hospital as her daughter had been taken there.

When the victim's mother reached the hospital, the on-duty doctor informed her that her daughter had been murdered after rape, according to the case document.

The parents of the victim learnt later that Dihan had asked their daughter to go to his flat, which was empty as his family members were out at the time, it said.

Upon receiving information, police went to the hospital and detained Dihan and three of his friends.

The burial

The victim’s burial took place at around 7am, when locals formed a human chain demanding justice for her. Hundreds of people joined the human chain after her namaz-e-janaza (funeral prayers) at the local Eidgah premises, nearly an hour after Fajr prayers.

Soon after the autopsy, family members departed for Kushtia with the body, arriving there at around 1am yesterday.

On their arrival, people from nearby areas rushed to the ancestral home of the girl. They protested and demanded justice for the victim.