Preeti’s Death: Ashfaqul, wife denied bail again

A Dhaka court yesterday denied bail to Executive Editor of The Daily Star Syed Ashfaqul Haque and his wife Tania Khondoker in a case over the death of Preeti Urang, a teenage domestic worker who fell from their flat in the capital's Mohammadpur.

Judge Mohammed Ash-Shams Joglul Hossain of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court of Dhaka passed the order after hearing the bail petition filed by the defence lawyer, said state lawyer Tapash Kumar Pal.

Earlier, the couple was denied bail two times.

Preeti, 15, from Moulvibazar, died after falling through an opening on Ashfaqul's eighth-floor flat around 8:00am on February 6.

Police took Ashfaqul and Tania into custody within hours of the incident.

The next day, the victim's father, a tea garden worker, filed a case with Mohammadpur Police Station against the couple under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code, which deals with death caused by negligence.

On the same day, Ashfaqul and Tania were first produced before a Dhaka court with a five-day remand prayer on February 7, but the court asked the police to interrogate them at the jail gate and submit the report within three working days.

On February 13, police produced the couple before the court with a 10-day remand petition, but the court granted four days' remand for interrogation in police custody.

On February 18, the court sent the couple to jail after police produced the couple before the court on completion of a four-day remand, seeking their confinement in jail custody.

Preeti's death came around six months after a seven-year-old house help at the same couple's residence suffered injuries as she tried to flee through an opening of the eighth-floor flat.

The victim's mother filed a case with Mohammadpur Police Station against Ashfaqul and Tania under the Children Act 2013 over the incident in August last year, but police later filed a final report with the court as they did not find any evidence to bear out the charges in the case.

On February 19 this year, the court accepted the final report and relieved the couple of the charges in the case.