Syed Ashfaqul Haque, executive editor of The Daily Star, and his wife Tanya Khandkar, currently in custody following the death of their domestic worker Preeti Urang, were questioned by police at the jailgate regarding allegations of repeated torture inflicted on domestic workers.
During the interrogation, police sought to ascertain the reasons behind the reported instances of abuse against domestic staff. Of particular concern was the circumstances surrounding the death of Preeti Urang, who fell from the ninth floor, as well as the previous incident involving another domestic worker named Ferdausi, who also fell from a height six months prior.
Ashfaq and Tania were apprehended on Tuesday and subsequently remanded to judicial custody. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DC) Tejgaon Division of DMP HM Azimul Haque confirmed that the court had granted permission for the interrogation of the couple at the jail gate in connection with the domestic worker's death. The investigation is ongoing.
Syed Ashfaqul Haque and Tania Khandkar were interrogated in Keraniganj Dhaka Central Jail on February 8 and 9. Interrogations have been conducted to find out the reasons behind repeated incidents of domestic violence in the same house. Ashfaq and Tania have also been asked to explain why the dead teenage maid was kept in the house with her hands tied. The clause for causing death by negligence on account of repetition of the same incident is attached. They are awaiting the post-mortem report.
If the investigation finds direct evidence of murder or anything else, legal action will be taken accordingly. Because similar incidents are not supposed to happen again and again. It is being investigated whether someone pushed the deceased from the house or not.
Preeti Urang (15) died after falling from the ninth floor of a building adjacent to Geneva Camp on Shahjahan Road in Mohammadpur at 8 am on February 6. Eyewitnesses said that Preeti was hanging on the window grill for some time before falling. Then fell down from that building. Many people gathered after the girl fell. The security personnel of the building were quickly informed but they did not want to open the door at first. When the girl fell from the top, Anas, a security guard from the neighboring building, and some others rescued her and took her to the hospital.
Mohammadpur police station sent the girl's body to Suhrawardy Medical College morgue for post-mortem. At that time, the locals gathered at the gate of the house and started protesting alleging that the girl was killed. Later, the police took Ashfaq, Tania and six members of their family to the police station.
After the interrogation, two were left and the rest were released. Preeti's father Lokesh Urang filed a case in Mohammadpur police station the next day.
Mohammadpur Police Station SI Sadia has prepared a detailed report of Preeti in the discussed incident. Report mentions some new and old scars on Preeti's body.
She said that the condition of the body after falling is such that it is generally difficult to distinguish these marks. The matter will be clear in the autopsy.
Question of an officer involved in the investigation - Is there an incident inside the house of Ashfaqul Haque, executive editor of the English Daily Star, that the child domestic workers fell from the ninth floor? Are they physically, mentally or sexually abused at home? Or are children being thrown away?
Preeti's father alleged that two years ago due to scarcity, he sent the younger daughter to work as a domestic worker at journalist Ashfaqul Haque's residence through a local man named Mintu. But Ashfaqul Haque's family did not allow her daughter to meet them even after two years. They used to contact the householder's mobile once or twice a month and talk.
Six months ago, with Ferdausi's injury after falling from the same house, her mother, Jochna Begum, filed a case at the Mohammadpur police station. Syed Ashfaqul Haque, Tania Khandkar and a woman named Asma Akhter Shilpi were also accused in that case.
Later, the defendants in the case settled with the plaintiff in court. The investigating officer submitted the final report to the court based on the complaint.
(The report was published on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on February 11 and rewritten in English by Tanvir Raihan)
