When the HSC results were published on Tuesday, Kulsum Begum, mother of 17-year-old Nafisa Hossen Marwa, found out that her daughter had secured GPA 4.25.

The news that was supposed to bring joy for Kulsum only brought her pain, as on August 5, Nafisa had gone to participate in a student procession towards the Gono Bhaban, never to return again.

She was a science group student at Sahajuddin Sarkar Model Higher Secondary School in Tongi.

A selfie of Nafisa Hossen Marwa taken during the protests. Photo: Collected

On August 5, she was shot and killed in the Pakija area of the Dhaka-Aricha Highway in Savar.

Kulsum is an expatriate worker in Kuwait. Nafisa used to stay with her father, Abul Hossen, in Tongi. On July 31, Nafisa had gone to visit her maternal grandfather's house in Savar's Bakhtarpur area. From there, Nafisa participated in the protests.

While visiting Nafisa's grandfather's house yesterday, this correspondent found Kulsum and her uncle Hazrat Ali sitting in a room looking at Nafisa's hospital report, death certificate, and various education certificates.

"Nafisa had studied here [in Savar] until her SSC. She had joined protests at Jahangirnagar University on August 4 with her former classmates. The next day, on August 5, she left home around 8:00am. I requested her not to join the movement, but she wouldn't listen," said Nafisa's uncle.

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He never came back home for lunch

Hazrat Ali then called Nafisa on her phone around 10:30am, when she said she was in Jahangirnagar University and safe.

"When I called her again around 3:00pm, someone else picked up and said the mobile phone belongs to a girl who had been shot and was taken to Labzon Hospital," recounted Hazrat.

Hazrat rushed to Labzon Hospital. The doctors there told him that Nafisa had died. He took Nafisa to Enam Medical Hospital, where the doctors checked again and confirmed that she was dead.

Later, Nafisa's body was brought to Savar Bazar bus stand in a Jahangirnagar University ambulance. "From there, we brought the body to our home on a rickshaw. Here, after the funeral, Nafisa was buried in a graveyard at Tongi," said Hazrat.

Nafisa's mother Kulsum Begum had been living abroad for the past 20 years.

"I have been working hard to pay for the education of my two daughters. Now, I have lost my elder daughter Nafisa. She had so many dreams, including getting admitted to Dhaka University. She wanted to build me a house someday. All of that is now over," said Kulsum.

"My daughter has got good results, but what will I do with good results if my daughter is no more? This result will remain as her last memory," Kulsum said, breaking down in tears.