Rape, death of 12-yr-old: A poor family’s cries for justice go unheeded

"I will not work at this house anymore. They torture me. I will come back to you." This was what Iti Akter said to her mother Sarkis Akter in her last phone call in the evening of January 28 last year.

Sarkis was informed the next day that her daughter was being taken to Better Life Hospital in the capital's Rampura.

Sarkis, who is a domestic worker in the Rayerbazar area, then rushed to the hospital only to find her daughter dead.

"I saw my daughter in a white body bag. As I was crying and asking what happened to her, the people around me said my daughter had hung herself with a scarf," said Sarkis.

"But after seeing her body, I was convinced that something very bad had happened to my daughter who was as pure as a flower."

The 12-year-old was working as a domestic help at the flat of a lawyer couple, Rajin Ahmed and Iffat Jahan Chowdhury, in the East Hajipara area of Rampura in the capital. Rajin's father Kamal Uddin Ahmed, a retired bureaucrat, is the owner of the house.

According to a report at Better Life Hospital, the girl was dead when she was brought to the hospital at 4:50pm on January 29, 2022. "A case of hanging as described by the landlord, Kamal Uddin Ahmed; hanging mark on throat."

She died around 80 minutes before she was brought there, according to a police inquest report.

The police report also said her rectum was abnormal, suggesting that she had been raped.

Police then sent the body to Dhaka Medical College mortuary for an autopsy.

After nearly 10 months, police informed Sarkis that the autopsy report had mentioned that her daughter had been raped before her death.

Three cases were filed over the incident between January 29 and November 22 last year, but police neither arrested anyone nor made any headway in the investigation.

The victim's parents have been alleging since her death that she was raped and then killed at her employer's flat.

"It has been a year since my child was raped and killed, but no culprits have been identified and arrested. Only Allah knows when we will see justice," said Iti's father Alamgir Mia, a rickshaw puller.

"To support our poor family, we sent her to work. But she had to suffer this kind of death within a few weeks," he told The Daily Star.

THE CASES

Iti's parents said they went to Rampura Police Station to file a murder case soon after seeing her body at the hospital. But the police registered an unnatural death case instead.

"I sent my daughter to work at the house of Iffat's parents in Dhanmondi. After around 20 days, she came back and stayed for a few days. I had to convince her to return to work. I learnt that she was working in Rampura when I talked to her for the last time," said Sarkis.

"If my daughter had died by suicide, why didn't they call the police and us to their house? I don't believe she killed herself."

On February 23 last year, Iti's father Alamgir filed a case with a Dhaka court accusing Rajin and Iffat of murder.

The court first asked the Criminal Investigation Department to probe the case. After the CID failed to come up with a report in nine months, the court asked the Police Bureau of Investigation to probe it, according to court documents.

PBI Sub-Inspector Nazim Uddin, who is investigating the murder case, told The Daily Star that he has been working on the case.

Meanwhile, the autopsy report was prepared on October 26 by Towhida Begum, lecturer of forensic medicine at Dhaka Medical College.

It said, "Considering autopsy findings, chemical analysis, histopathological report of viscera, and microbiology and DNA analyses, the cause of death was asphyxia as a result of hanging, which is antemortem and suicidal in nature, but the sign of forceful sexual intercourse was present in the victim's body."

Asked why the report was delayed, Towhida said autopsy reports often get delayed because it takes longer to get the DNA report.

On November 22, around a month after the autopsy report came, Sarkis filed a case with Rampura Police Station over rape and suicide instigation, accusing unnamed individuals.

In the case statement Sarkis wrote her daughter worked in a house where Kamal Uddin Ahmed, his wife Kahinoor Kamal, son Rajin Ahmed, daughter-in-law Iffat Jahan Chowdhury and maid Rokeya live. Their driver, Monzur Alam frequently visits the house.

"I suspect my daughter was raped by a man living or visiting that house," the statement read.

Rampura police then submitted the First Information Report before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Dhaka.

Inspector Golam Mowla, who is investigating the case, has yet to file any report on the probe.

Asked, Golam Mowla said, "We are working on it [case], but we are yet to identify anyone in connection with it."

Sarkis on January 5 wrote a letter to the Inspector General of Police requesting that he order the PBI to probe it.

"I am very poor. I came to you [IGP] as I did not get any help from the police station. To get justice, I want the PBI to probe the case," she wrote in the letter.

A senior PBI official, wishing anonymity, said, "The PBI is now investigating the murder case filed with the court. When a case is filed with the court, there is no scope to arrest anyone unless a probe report is submitted to the court and the court issues an arrest warrant accepting the probe. But without arresting the suspects, it will be tough to complete the probe.

"Another rape case was also filed with the police station over the same incident following the autopsy report several months after the incident. The cases should be merged for the sake of the investigation. The murder case should be merged with the rape case, and investigation should be done by one agency."

Contacted, Kamal Uddin Ahmed, owner of the flat where Iti worked, said, "Anyone can make a complaint, but there are agencies to investigate the complaint. Police are investigating the incident now. I don't want to say anything. Talk to the police.

"After we found her hanging. We brought her down and sent her to a nearby hospital immediately."

His son Rajin Ahmed said, "It's a pre-judicial matter. I don't want to comment on this. After her death, I heard the girl was forcibly sent to our house."