Family of dead Madrasa teen wants CID probe

The family of a teenage girl found dead in a women’s Madrasa in Dhaka have demanded a CID probe into her death.

Thirteen-year old Sumaiya Akhter was found hanging in the bathroom at Lalbagh’s Halima Sadia Mohila Madrasa on Sept 11.

Daughter to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital staff Mobarak Ali, she was enrolled there early last month.

Her two brothers 'Ibrahim' and Nurul Alam Nayan are fourth-class employees at the state-run hospital.

In a press conference at Topkhana Road on Sunday, they rejected the autopsy report which said ‘suicide’ was the cause of her death.

They demanded another autopsy and urged authorities to find out what actually led to their sister’s death.

Police too have doubted the findings of the report.

“We put our sister in the Madrasa so she can be an Alem,” said Ibrahim. “And within a month, she is dead.”

“Someone in the Madrasa killed her. We want justice for this murder. We want CID to start the investigation.”

Ibrahim said the Madrasa called the family at 12pm on Sept 11 saying Sumaiya was sick.

“We went there and found her body hanging in the bathroom. The people in the Madrasa said she killed herself during the night.”

The brother said he saw marks from strangulation on her neck and other wounds from beatings on various parts of her body.

“The police themselves prepared the General Diary and the father signed it without much thought,” said Ibrahim as he cried.

“We understand the mistake we made. We want another autopsy.”

“Sumaiya’s dupatta was fastened to the metal rod for hanging clothes. Her feet were touching the floor,” Lalbagh Police SI Amzad Hossain told bdnews24.com.

The policemen refused to accept suicide as cause of death after getting the report of her autopsy on Saturday.

“All inmates left the Madrasa after Sumiya’s death. No student or teacher was there – we felt it was very strange.”

“We’ll question them when they come back.”