English

"Will I not even get my son's body? My son is not an unclaimed person. Why was he buried as if he were?" Crying uncontrollably, with tears streaming down her face, Rasheda Begum stands at the Central Shaheed Minar with a photo of her deceased child. Her heart's anguish seems to be reflected in her eyes, lips, and face. She wants to touch her deceased child's body just once.

When Rasheda Begum spoke on Thursday afternoon, the "Shaheedi March" occurred. The procession had not yet reached the Central Shaheed Minar. Sohel Rana (37) was shot by the police in the Jatrabari area during the movement. His family was unaware of his death; they had assumed he was either in jail or safe at someone's home. They cannot accept that Sohel was buried as an unclaimed person. Five days after his death, Sohel was buried in the Rayerbazar  Graveyard after being identified at the morgue of Dhaka Medical College Hospital. In searching for his grave among many, Anjuman Mufidul Islam has been running between various places: the police station and the students of the anti-discrimination movement. His family desperately wants to reclaim his body.

On the evening of July 18, Sohel Rana left his home, and since then, his family has received no news about him. Sohel, from the Shyamapur area of Rayerbagh in Jatrabari, was the eldest among his four brothers and one sister. He was engaged in the export clothing business. He had divorced his wife six months ago and has an 11-year-old son.

"My brother left the house in the evening, and no one saw him again; he left and never returned. All I heard was about it and saw his picture, but I couldn't even bury my brother's body, see it, or touch it. He was buried as an unclaimed person. My brother is not an unclaimed person. He has a family, and I want to shout and say that my brother is not unclaimed; he is not unknown—his mother, father, brothers, and sisters are all here. My parents and siblings have gone mad; I don't know how to stop their wailing or handle the situation. I can't even manage myself. I don't know how long this will go on. I don't even know if I will get justice for my brother in this world." This is how the deceased's younger brother, Md. Nabil expressed his grief.

According to the GD report, Sohel was found with gunshot wounds and a severely damaged chest in Kazla, Jatrabari, on July 18. That night, students brought him to Dhaka Medical College. Due to the severe condition of the body, it was transferred from the Dhaka Medical College morgue to Anjuman Mufidul Islam on July 23. His body was buried at the Rayerbazar Graveyard on July 24.

The deceased's younger brother, Md. Nabil told Bonik Barta, "After my brother left the house on the evening of July 18, we did not hear any news about him. I posted many updates on Facebook in various places. On August 21, we suddenly received a call on our mobile phones asking if we had found our brother. The caller said, 'I also lost my brother and went to the morgue to search for him. I saw some unclaimed bodies there, and one looked quite like your brother. You should urgently go to the morgue.' My elder brother Jewel then collected a photo from the morgue and brought it home. Without telling anyone, he only showed me the photo. As soon as I saw it, I recognized it as my brother. This is my Sohel."

The next day, on August 22, the deceased's elder brother Jewel and younger brother Nabil went to Anjuman Mufidul Islam. Their sole purpose was to locate the body labeled "Unknown 28 GD Number 1359" from the morgue photo. While flipping through the files, they found the entry for "Unknown 28 GD Number 1359." When they inquired, Anjuman Mufidul Islam informed them that the body arrived at their facility on July 23 and was buried the following day at the Rayerbazar  Graveyard. To get more details, they were referred to Shahbagh Police Station. At the station, a police officer read out the GD report, stating that the body was found in Jatrabari Kazla on the night of July 18. When asked how this happened, the officer explained that the body had sustained a gunshot wound to the head and multiple pellet wounds, causing severe damage. The GD noted that fingerprinting was done to identify the body. Still, as no voter ID or birth registration number was found, it was kept at the morgue until July 23 before being handed over to Anjuman Mufidul Islam.

Jewel, the deceased's elder brother, told Bonik Barta, "If justice is not served for my brother's killers in this world, there is certainly another world where justice will be done. I could not even see my brother's body or bury him. I don't know which grave at Rayerbazar Intellectuals' Graveyard is my brother's. We want to recover our brother's remains."