Suspect’s mother views murder of Bangladeshi blogger Oyasiqur as painful

Ayesha Begum, mother of Ariful Islam, one of the two youths caught after allegedly hacking blogger Oyasiqur Rahman to death on Monday, viewed the murder was “painful”.

“It must be painful,” said Ayesha yesterday afternoon at her house on Baoniya Bandh in Mirpur 11. She also said her son and the other alleged killer did not even know Oyasiqur personally before the murder.

The other alleged killer held with Arif was Zikrullah, 19, who confessed before police that they merely carried out the attack planned by one Masud. Taher, another accomplice of theirs, had managed to escape.

According to police, Masud had provided them with Oyasiqur's photograph and three cleavers, accusing the blogger of demeaning Islam and its prophet.

Like Zikrullah, Arif was also a student of Hathazari Madrasa in Chittagong from where he obtained the “Maolana” title, which is equivalent to a master's degree, about three years ago.

Arif had attended four madrasas in Dhaka's Mirpur before travelling to Hathazari for obtaining the degree. He was a research student of Islami Shariah Law at a madrasa in Mirpur-1 prior to the murder.

Admitting that Arif was his student, Abdus Sabur of the Mirpur madrasa said the accused had been on sick leave for the last three months.

“He [Arif] was born with asthma,” said Arif's mother Ayesha, adding: “He could not attend his classes in the last three months as blood came out whenever he coughed.”

Ayesha's second daughter Mariam said Arif was expected to return to his classes soon as his condition was improving.

Arif had gone to the house of his eldest sister in Narayanganj the day before the killing, she added.

It was not until police raided Arif's house around 10:00pm Monday night that the family learned about his involvement.

“Arif does not use a cell phone and we do not have a television set to know anything about the murder,” said Ayesha.

During visits to the three madrasas Arif studied in the capital, it was learned that the use of cell phone and computer was banned for students at those institutions.

A teacher at Darul Habib Madrasa, from where Arif completed his primary-level education, claimed technology was dimmed deterrent to the study of religion.

The madrasa is situated next to Arif's house. His father Mufti Tajul Islam teaches at a girls' madrasa in Mirpur 13. Tajul also runs a Moktob, equivalent to elementary school, on the ground floor of a two-storey house with the help of his wife and daughters.

Arif's family is revered in the neighbourhood, better known as a slum area where sewerage overflows narrow lanes and many people are reportedly involved in drugs trade.