Trial of Abrar Fahad murder underway
The trial of Buet student Abrar Fahad murder case began at a Dhaka tribunal yesterday, with deposition of the complainant.
Judge Abu Zafar Md Kamruzzaman of the Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 of Dhaka recorded the statement of complainant Md Barkat Ullah, father of the victim, for over an hour.
Later, the defence for accused Anik Sarkar started cross-examination of the complainant. As the defence could not complete it, the judge set today for the next hearing.
In his statement, the complainant told the court that he came to know from people that some students of Buet's Sher-e-Bangla Hall, in a pre-planned way, beat his son to death.
Later, he came to Dhaka and discussed with some students and teachers and came to know from CCTV footage that 19 students, including Anik Sarkar, beat up his son mercilessly with cricket stumps, sticks and skipping rope, sometime between 8:05pm on October 6 and 2:30am on October 7 last year, with an intent to kill him.
"After collecting CCTV footage, information from other students and teachers and consulting with my relatives, I filed the case against the accused with Chawkbazar Police Station," the complainant said in his statement.
The witness also said the accused killed his son due to previous enmity and later, eight of the accused narrated to magistrates how they tortured his son to death.
The complainant sought exemplary punishment for all the 25 accused.
Twenty-two of the accused -- now in jail -- were produced before the tribunal during yesterday's hearing. Three other accused -- Mustaba Rafid, Muhammad Morshed-Uz-Zaman Mondol alias Jishan and Ehtashamul Rabbi Tanim -- have been absconding since the incident.
On October 7 last year, Abrar, a second-year student of Buet, was beaten to death by a group of Buet unit Chhatra League activists in a dormitory.
Later, Abrar's father filed the murder case.
The incident triggered a firestorm of protests on campuses across the country. Many took to social media to demand justice for Abrar.
Amid protest, Buet authorities on October 11 banned all political activities on the campus and suspended 19 students, mostly leaders of the university's BCL unit who have been made accused in the case.
Eight of the accused gave their confessional statements before separate magistrates narrating the horrifying torture during investigation on different dates last year.
Inspector Md Wahiduzaman of Detective Branch of police submitted the charge sheet to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dhaka against 25 Buet students on November 13 last year.
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