Fardin’s Death: Bushra gets bail, finally

Amatullah Bushra, an accused in a case filed over the death of Buet student Fardin Noor Parash, got bail yesterday -- two months after she was arrested in the capital's Banasree area.

However, she could not walk out of jail as of filing of this report at 10:30pm yesterday, as her bail order did not reach the authorities of Kashimpur Women's Central Jail, where she has been languishing.

Judge Tahsin Iftekhar of Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court-7 yesterday heard her bail petition for the second consecutive day and issued the bail order, said defence lawyer AKM Habibur Rahman Chunnu.

The bail will remain valid till submission of the probe report before the court, said court sources.

During yesterday's hearing, Fardin's father Kazi Nooruddin Rana opposed the bail plea, saying that Bushra was with his son till 10:15pm on November 6, so she might know about his son's "murder".

On Thursday, the judge set January 8 (yesterday) to pass an order after the hearing in the murder case.

Obaidur Rahman, senior superintendent of Kashimpur Women's Central Jail, said they will take steps for Bushra's release after getting the court order.

Family members of Bushra, a private university student, are worried about her education and future and claimed she has been suffering in jail for two months without having committed any crime.

"She is innocent ... We are now waiting for her release," her uncle Mazharul Islam said soon after the court finally granted her bail.

"But who will compensate her for the trauma of being in jail without committing any crime? We don't even know if she will be able to move past it.

"Her father has been devastated …"

On November 10, Rampura police arrested Bushra, a friend of Fardin, from her Banasree house soon after a murder case was filed against her.

She was sent to jail on November 16 after her bail petition was rejected following the completion of her five-day remand.

On December 5, she sought bail before a Dhaka court, which set January 5 for a hearing on the petition.

Fardin, a third-year student of the civil engineering at Buet, was found dead in the Shitalakkhya in Narayanganj on November 7, three days after he went missing.

After over a month of investigation, the Detective Branch of police and Rab on December 11 said Fardin died by suicide after jumping off a bridge into the river.

A day later, DB Chief Mohammad Harun Or Rashid said they did not find Bushra's involvement in the incident.