Jihad's parents finally receive Tk 20 lakh compensation

Parents of Jihad, the four-year-old boy who died after falling into a 300ft shaft in Dhaka's Shahjahanpur area in 2014, have received Tk 20 lakh in compensation from the government.

Bangladesh Railway and Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence provided the money as per a High Court directive.

Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Abdul Halim, who moved a writ petition before the HC for the compensation, told The Daily Star that Jihad's parents confirmed receiving Tk 20 lakh on Monday.

Barrister Abdul Halim said he also received the bank statement to this effect.

Yesterday, the lawyer informed the HC about the payout to Jihad's parents.

After hearing statements from Barrister Halim, the HC exonerated the director general of Bangladesh Railway from contempt of court rule.

Amzad Hossain, director general of Bangladesh Railway, appeared before the HC bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Mohammad Ali yesterday as per its July 3 order.

The bench yesterday also disposed of the contempt of court rule issued on July 3 against the Railway DG for not complying with its directive over paying compensation to Jihad's parents.

The HC on February 18, 2016 delivered its short judgment, directing the respondents to pay compensation to Jihad's family, but did not specify the amount.

It released the full verdict of the case on October 8 last year, asking the respondents -- Bangladesh Railway and Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence -- to pay Tk 20 lakh as compensation within 90 days.

Jihad fell into an uncovered shaft while playing with other children at Shahjahanpur Railway Colony on December 26, 2014.

His body was pulled out by a group of volunteers the following day, shortly after the government agencies called off the rescue bid, saying there was no sign of the boy inside the well.

On February 26 this year, a Dhaka court sentenced four people, including three engineers of Bangladesh Railway, to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment in a case filed over the death of Jihad.

The convicts are Abdus Salam alias Shafiqul Islam and Jahangir Alam, proprietor and senior sub-assistant engineer  respectively of SR House, a contractor firm that was implementing a railway project in the area; and Zafar Ahmed and Nasir Uddin, assistant engineers of Bangladesh Railway.