A mentally handicapped youth was killed during a robbery at his family’s premises in the Charpara area of Ramu upazila in Cox’s Bazar – but police and local administration are treating the incident with indifference.
According to the deceased Meer Kashem’s relatives, they tortured and murdered him after he caught them in the act.
Faruk, son-in-law of Kashem’s uncle Mohammad Ali, was injured in the incident as he tried to stop the robbers from taking away all the cows.
“One of them shot at me but missed,” said Faruk. The hustlers tried to loot seven cows from the house but could get away with only two.
Kashem’s body was found in a nearby vegetable field the morning after the robbery.
“He had gone missing following the incident. We discovered his body in the morning. Ropes were wrapped around his eyes-mouth, hands, and feet,” said Mohammad Ali.
Officer-in-charge (investigation) of Ramu police station, Arup Kumar Chowdhury, went to the spot and sent the body for autopsy.
But the family claims the police weren’t helpful in the incident. “One police officer used derogatory terms toward my ninth-grader daughter,” said Mohammad Ali.
“They slammed us for calling the 999 helpline,” he added.
In fact the police are reluctant to accept that Kashem’s death was even related to the robbery.
Anwarul Islam, officer-in-charge of Ramu police station, said, “The robbery occurred at night, but the body was found the next morning. We cannot yet say whether these incidents are related or not. We are investigating.”
Zafar Alam, the local UP member, almost justified the killing with his comment: “As Kashem was mentally handicapped, he used to shout at unknown people. Maybe he saw them in the night and started shouting. That’s why they tortured and killed him”.
Livestock theft has increased at Ramu upazila in recent times. Five days ago five cows were looted from another house in the same upazila.
Source: United News of Bangladesh