DU students demand justice for Tangail boy Shihab's murder

A section of students from Dhaka University (DU), basically hailing from Tangail, has staged a protest rally demanding justice for schoolboy Shihab Mia murder on Sunday.

The rally was held in front of the Raju monument inside DU premises at 11:00am.

Besides students and teachers from DU, many others from Tangail came to join the protest rally.

Shihab was a fifth-grade student of Srishti Academic School in Tangail’s Bishwas Betka area. He was a resident of Berbari village under Tangail’s Sokhipur upazila.

Shihab’s dead body was recovered from the residential building of his school on June 20.

Later today, hospital sources revealed that Shihab was killed by strangulation.

Dhaka University Senate Member and Sir F Rahman Hall Provost Professor KM Saiful Islam Khan, former General Secretary of BUET Chhatra League and Finance Secretary of Awami League sub-committee Md Ataullah, Shihab's father Md Elias Hossain and his sister attended the protest rally.

Professor Dr KM Saiful Islam Khan said, "I saw Shihab’s body and noticed signs of injuries on his chest, hands, legs and back.  There were blood clots everywhere. Such an incident can never be called suicide."

"It is impossible for any human being to do such an inhumane act," he added.

Demanding justice, deceased’s father Elyas Hossen said, "My son was not too old to understand suicide. They killed my son after torturing him and later they spread propaganda saying that he committed suicide."

Shihab's sister said, "My brother had taken admission to this school of his own will and he didn’t want to stay at home any longer as his exams were approaching. He had returned from his home just three days before his killing but I had no idea what would happen within just three days."

“Such a child can never commit suicide,” she added.

"When we tried to communicate with the school authority in this regard, we received different types of information. Some said he was ill, some said he got injured while he was playing and that’s why he was admitted to hospital. But, when we communicated with the hospital authority, they said that no such patient was brought to them," she also said.

Demanding proper investigation of the incident, Shihab’s sister mentioned that later, a teacher of the school handed Shihab’s dead body to them, reports UNB.