Without exemplary punishment history will repeat itself: HC on Badda mob killing

Regarding the killing of Taslima Begum Renu, a single mother of two kids, in mob beating at Dhaka's Badda in 2019, the High Court today (September 18, 2022) observed that giving license to kill any human beings through medieval barbarism in the name of mob-beating will result in panic and insecurity among every one in society.

"If exemplary punishment is not ensured for the real offenders, it will not be possible to prevent a repetition of such incidents and taking the law into one's own hands," the HC bench of Justice Md Rezaul Hasan and Justice Md Atabullah said while issuing a suo motu (voluntary) rule on the issue.

The HC bench also said it is a "must" to punish the culprits responsible for Renu's murder.

With the observation, the bench ordered the deputy commissioner of Dhaka to take necessary steps to ensure the presence of witnesses of Taslima Begum Renu murder case before the trial court on time, to monitor the trial proceedings of the case and to ensure its proper trial.

The court also issued a rule to this effect and asked the deputy commissioner (DC) of Dhaka to respond to the rule in eight weeks, Deputy Attorney General Imran Ahmed Bhuiyan told The Daily Star.

On July 20, 2019, 40-year-old Taslima Begum Renu, a single mother of four-and-a-half-year-old Tuba and Ta-seen al Mahir, a fifth-grader, had gone to Badda Uttar-Purba Primary School to inquire about admission in hopes of getting Tuba enrolled.

But a mob beat her brutally to death in front of the school gate, suspecting her to be a child kidnapper. Videos taken on mobile phones and CCTV, which later went viral, showed some young people kicking, striking, and trampling Taslima amid a gathering of several hundred people, most of whom were just silent spectators.

The killing, which sparked outrage in the country, took place at a time when incidents of mob attacks on people labelling them as "child snatchers" were on the rise.

Following the incident, Syed Nasir Uddin Titu, a nephew of Taslima, filed the case against 400 to 500 unknown attackers with Badda Police Station.

Investigation officer of the case submitted a charge sheet to a Dhaka court on September 10, 2020 against 15 accused.

On December 2 that year, Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mamunur Rashid took cognizance of charges against 15 accused and issued an arrest warrant against Mohin Uddin as the investigation officer showed him fugitive in the charge sheet of the case.