Mother could not believe in govt tests
Hena's mother Aklima could not believe that neither the police inquest nor the autopsy found any injury marks on the body of her 15-year-old daughter who was whipped to death following a fatwa.
Local civil society members and human rights activists expressed their surprise over the inquest and post-mortem reports.
Ahsan Ullah Ismaily, secretary of Shariatpur unit of rights body Sujan, told The Daily Star it is a mockery that the civil surgeon, who conducted the autopsy, found no injury in her body.
Aklima broke down in tears leaning on a rickety wooden cupboard, the only furniture in her house, when this correspondent told her about the reports.
“You say they have not found any injury marks on Hena's body. But those who had come to see her could not go close to her due to stench from injuries all over her body,” said the mother.
Earlier, she did not utter a single word about it to save her daughter from disgrace.
“She was vomiting blood; saliva was coming out of her mouth,” she continued.
“There were bruises and swollen flesh all over her body including on her private parts.
“I do not understand how they conducted the tests.”
Aklima said the wounds Hena suffered had not resulted only from the lashing but also from the beating by Mahbub's wife Shilpi on January 23.
On that day, Shilpi discovered Hena and Mahbub behind the latter's house around 10:00pm after Mahbub raped her, villagers said.
Shilpi, who was the under impression that Hena had an affair with her husband, locked Hena inside their house and beat her mercilessly, they added.
Hena and Mahbub are cousins who were living in the same compound, but in separate houses. Among the three brothers sharing the land, Hena's father Darbesh Kha, a day-labourer, is the poorest.
“Four people including Shilpi beat the girl and kicked her in the chest and abdomen. They also trampled her several times,” said advocate Rowshan Ara, member of Bangladesh Human Rights Commission in Shariatpur.
An X-ray might have detected her ribs broken, she added.
Gias Uddin Rari, chairman of Chamta union parishad, said: “Something is wrong somewhere. Witnesses saw injury marks all over her body. If the police inquest and autopsy are not done properly, the family will not get justice.”
They all welcomed the High Court order to exhume Hena's body for a fresh post-mortem.
Meanwhile, following The Daily Star report published yesterday, Deputy Commissioner Sanowar Hossain held a series of closed-door meetings with Civil Surgeon Golam Sarwar, who conducted the autopsy.
The committee formed on February 2 to find out negligence of the authorities in saving Hena visited her house for the first time yesterday.
“Where do we live? In which part of the world? How did the girl die without any injury? It cannot simply be accepted,” said Abul Hashin, headmaster of Pancha Palli Gururam High School where Hena studied up to class VII before she quit.
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