Fifteen-month-old Yaj Khalifa clings to his mother, Shanta Akhtar, his tiny face a mixture of confusion and fear as he gazed at the unfamiliar faces in their home.

The air in their Barishal residence is thick with grief as Shanta's sobbed fill the room. "How am I going to survive now? I have lost everything."

Her husband, Imran Khalifa, 26, died after a bullet hit him near Shahjadpur Market in Dhaka around 6:00pm on July 19 amid the clashes centring the quota reform protests.

Imran worked as a nightguard in Gulshan.

He moved to Dhaka from Kalna in Barishal with his family last year in search of better opportunities.

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Initially, Imran tried his hand at selling shoes on the footpath, but it failed. He then worked as a labourer, struggling to make ends meet. Finally, on July 3, he secured a job as a nightguard at an apartment building.

Life slowly started to fall into places for the three. They rented a small room in Shahjadpur Khilbaritek area. It wasn't much but it was home.

But everything changed on July 19.

With teary eyes, Shanta recalled the events.

Around 5:30pm, Imran had asked Shanta to prepare dinner for his night shift. He told her that he would step out briefly to see what was going on outside.

Tragedy struck as he walked towards the market. A sudden bullet ended his life.

"My husband was not involved in politics. He did not understand it. All he cared about was taking care of his family," Shanta wept.

While talking to Shanta, this correspondent saw Imran's parents, Nazrul Islam, 68, and Selina Akhtar, 50, sitting in silence, the weight of their loss evident.

Nazrul recounted the moment he received a call from Imran's phone on Friday night. "It was not him speaking. Someone informed me he was at a hospital and his condition was serious."

Shanta said she rushed to the hospital, only to find Imran's lifeless body among many others. "The doctor said a bullet had pierced through his body," she said.

Imran was laid to rest near his village home on July 21.