Death of a garments worker in Ashulia: How it happened

After two weeks of worker dissatisfaction and protests, most garment factories in the Ashulia industrial area were operating at full capacity from today as workers started coming back to work and things looked to be getting back to normal.

But for Rokeya Begum and her family, things will never get back to normal.

Police sources and locals said that due to ongoing worker unrest, the factory of Mascot Group Limited located in Jirabo beside the Jirabo-Bishmail road was closed for the last few days under Section 13(1) of Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006. This morning, the workers of Mascot Group gathered in front of the factory and started a protest demanding the reopening of the factory.

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Female garment worker killed as two groups clash in Ashulia

However, at one stage, brickbats were thrown at the workers by workers of Radiance Knitwears Ltd, which is directly adjacent to Mascot, claimed the protesting workers.

Soon, a clash broke out, with workers of Radiance and Southern Garments Ltd, another nearby factory, on one side, and workers of Mascot Group on the other.

Photo: Star

During the clash, Rokeya Begum was struck by brick chips, and she died from her injuries, said police.

At least 20 workers were injured as well in the one-and-a-half-hour-long clash. The injured were admitted to various local hospitals.

Harun ur-Rashid, manager of Ashulia Woman and Children Hospital, told The Daily Star that at least 10 injured worker were admitted to their Hospital. They were out of danger, he said quoting doctors.

During a visit of the Jirabo area at 12:00pm, this correspondent found that the workers of Mascot were blocking the Jirabo-Bishmail road, protesting with the dead body of Rokeya Begum in front of the factory.

Army, police and Rab were trying to convince the workers to leave the streets.

Photo: Star

Sharmin Akhter, a worker at Mascot Group, said, "The factory owner announced the closure of our factory a few days ago. All factories in the area have been reopened but our factory has not been reopened. We took a stand in front of the factory around 8:30am demanding the reopening of the factory. At that time, the workers of Radiance Garments threw brickbats at us. Our colleague Rokeya Begum was killed after being hit by a brick chip on the head. Both our factory owner and the Radiance factory owner are to blame for this murder. I want them both to be brought to justice."

Several workers of Mascot told The Daily Star that bricks were hurled at them from the nearby Radiance Factory when they peacefully took positions in front of factory. The army men were also present but they did not take any action, they claimed, saying army personnel took shelter inside the factory of Mascot Group.

The police and army only stood and watched the incident, they said.

This correspondent could not reach Rashidul Haque, director of Mascot Group Ltd, for comments.

The Daily Star also could not reach any officials of Radiance and Southern.

Md Sarwar Alam, superintendent of Ashulia Industrial Police-1, told The Daily Star that they are taking the matter of the worker's death seriously.

"We are talking to the workers. We are collecting information on how many people have been injured. The workers have taken position on the Jirabo-Bishmail road due to the death of their colleague. Discussions are going on with the owners regarding the workers," he said.

Meanwhile, at least 10 factories in Jirabo area, including Radiance and Southern, have been closed for the day due to the incident, he added.

On Thursday, 86 factories in Ashulia were closed due to worker unrest, and 133 factories declared general holidays.