‘Father, I will not fight and do bad things in my life. You take me out of here. They wash the bathroom and dishes with me. If you don’t wash it, you get beaten a lot.’
Eight days ago, when Rafiq Ahmed went to Tongir Child Development Center in Gazipur with his wife Yasmin Begum, their beloved child made such a request. Kishore Maruf Ahmed asked his parents to take him home crying.
The teenager died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Wednesday (February 14) around 6:30 am. Earlier, he was admitted to the hospital last Saturday. His parents alleged that he died due to torture by officials of Tongir Child Development Center (Boys).
Maruf Ahmed (16) is the son of Rafiq Ahmed of Ashtagram village of Ashtagram upazila of Kishoreganj district. The father complained that his son died due to torture inside the children’s center. When he got sick from the beating, he was admitted to the hospital by the officials of the children’s center. Later the father was informed. Maruf died in the hospital’s medicine ward on Wednesday morning.
The post-mortem of the body will be conducted on Thursday, said SI Sanarul Haque of the capital’s Shahbag police station.
Maruf’s uncle Saiful Islam said that their house is in Ashtagram village of Ashtagram upazila. Maruf lived with his parents in a rented house in Khilkhet Darjibari area of the capital. He studied in a madrasa for some time, but later left and worked as a daily wage worker. He was the eldest of three brothers and one sister.
Father Rafiq Ahmed said, ‘On January 27, a few boys had a fight with a jhalmuri seller in Khilkhet area. Maruf was standing there. At that time Khilkhet police station arrested Maruf along with two sons. January 28 gave the challan to the court. After getting the news, I went to the police station and found out that a case of robbery has been registered in Maruf’s name. From the court he was sent to Tongi Child Development Centre.
Eight days ago, Maruf’s mother went to meet his son at the child development center. This father said, ‘Then Maruf cried and said, father, I will not fight and do bad things again in my life. get me out of here They wash the dishes and wash the bathroom with me. If not washed, it takes a lot of beating. But I could not release my son despite many requests from police and officials.
On February 12, the Child Development Center called me and informed me that Maruf was ill and Rafiq Ahmed said, “Later, he was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. I went to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and saw the boy lying unconscious. I couldn’t say anything. I saw injuries on his body, elbows and back. They beat my son. Died due to gruesome torture. I want justice for my son’s death.’
SI Sanarul Haque of Shahbag police station said, ‘The teenager had a black spot on his right eye. Right and left elbows were bruised, both legs were injured at different places. An autopsy will be conducted on Thursday. The exact cause of death will be known after the autopsy.’
In the preliminary investigation report, the SI mentioned that, from the statement of the wrongful death case of Delwar Hossain, supervisor of Tongir Child Development Center, it is known that this juvenile is the accused in the case number 29(1)24, 28/1/24 of Khilkhet police station. He fell ill at the Child Development Center on February 10 at noon. He was immediately taken to Gazipur Ahsanullah Medical College Hospital. From there, he was admitted to ward number 601 of Dhaka Medical College Hospital for advanced treatment. Maruf died at 6:30 am on Wednesday while undergoing treatment at the hospital.
Tongir Child Development Center supervisor Delwar Hossain called several times to inquire about this but did not receive.
