My son hasn’t called me. He never will...

Rabbi Miah, 22, was the brightest hope for his family.

Hailing from the impoverished Panchashi village in Jamalpur's Sarishabari upazila, Rabbi was steadily carving a path to a better future. His father, Abdur Rahim, a rickshaw-puller, struggled to afford the education of his two sons.

Despite these hardships, Rabbi's older brother, Antor Miah, had recently completed his post-graduation in political science and was actively seeking a government job. To support the family, he taught at an English-medium school in Dhaka's Gulshan area.

Rabbi was also contributing to the family while pursuing his own dreams. He worked as a junior officer at Walton Base Point in Narayanganj and was a second-year Electrical and Electronics Engineering student at Southeast University. With aspirations of studying abroad, he was preparing for the IELTS exam.

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No parent should have to bury a child

The two brothers had come so far, driven by their hard work, dedication, and the shared hope of lifting their family out of poverty.

However, on July 20, that hope was extinguished by a bullet.

Rabbi was at his home on the fourth floor of a building in Painadi Natun Mohalla, Narayanganj's Siddirganj area, when he heard a loud commotion outside. Curiosity led him to the veranda, where he saw a clash between protesters demanding quota reform in government jobs and the police, who were firing at the crowd.

As Rabbi began recording the police firing on his phone, a bullet struck him in the chest, killing him instantly, according to said his father, quoting witnesses.

"How are we going to console ourselves, and continue to live on with our hearts burdened with this grief of losing our son?" said Rahim.

Rajia Begum, Rabbi's mother, has been unable to stop her tears even 12 days after her youngest son's untimely death.

Clutching Rabbi's portrait in her lap, she was seen weeping when this correspondent visited their home in Jamalpur on Wednesday evening.

"My son used to call me regularly and would always say that one day he would achieve success and ensure that our family would no longer live in poverty. But it's been twelve days, and my son hasn't called me. He never will..." Rajia sobbed.