Freed Raza back to family after 20 yrs
Acquitted from a murder charge, Azaher Ali Raza, who was freed from jail on Wednesday after 20 years of confinement, is passing a busy time as relatives, neighbours and locals thronged at his Uttar Joydebpur village home in Dinajpur Sadar upazila.
“My daughter Ajmira Khatun was an 11-month-old girl when I went to jail in 1998. Now she has met me with her 15-month-old daughter Rekha,” Raza told this correspondent when the latter went to his home on Wednesday.
“My sisters, brothers and daughter were little when I went to jail in 1998. Now I can hardly recognise them. My mother met me several times in last 20 years when I was in jail, but my other relatives never went to jail to meet me,” he said.
“It's really a wonderful moment for us,” said Raza's sister Rehana.
Raza's wife left him after he went to jail, being arrested in a murder case in 1998.
“Dinajpur has changed a lot in last 20 years. There were a few high-rise buildings in the town, but I saw many high-rise buildings here on Wednesday. The road to my home is carpeted and wide. Unlike the earlier time, most of the village houses are now brick-built,” Raza said.
Raza, who studied up to Class V, used to run a small shop at Kishanbazar area in Dinajpur Sadar upazila, near his home.
Raza, then 20, was arrested in a murder case in mid 1998. The Additional District and Sessions Judge's Court-2 of Dinajpur awarded him death sentence in 2005. Later, the High Court acquitted him of the charge in 2010. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) in 2012 stayed the acquittal order.
After hearing, the SC finally acquitted him and issued order for his release from jail, but the letter never reached Dinajpur jail in last six years.
Recently, Dinajpur jail authorities brought the issue to the notice of the SC and the apex court again issued the letter that arrived at Dinajpur district court on Wednesday, leading to the release of Raza from Dinajpur jail.
“Some precious years of my life have been wasted. Now I am not fit to do any laborious job,” said Raza, expressing hope that the government will help him run the rest of his life smoothly.
“Raza's life is ruined. His brothers and sisters are also poor. I urge the government to help him start a new life,” his mother Monsura Khatun said with tearful eyes.
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