Family questions motive behind killing of ‘mentally challenged’ man during Ashura procession

Police say Zakir Hussain was killed after a dispute during the Ashura procession, but his family rejects that explanation and wants CCTV footage examined to uncover what really happened

The family of Zakir Hussain cannot answer the one question that has haunted them since Friday: why was he killed?

The Dhaka South City Corporation sanitation worker was fatally stabbed after joining the Ashura Tazia procession in Old Dhaka's Sutrapur, leaving behind a grieving family that insists he had neither enemies nor a history of conflict.

Relatives describe Zakir as mentally challenged, with the innocence of a child. He never got into trouble with anyone, they said.

"Whoever asked him to do something, he would do it with a smile. Why would anyone want to kill him?"

The father of three lived with his family in Azimpur and was the eldest of five siblings. Neighbours remember him as gentle, cheerful and well-liked.

Zakir was attacked beneath the Ispahani Building on PK Roy Road in Banglabazar. Police rushed him to Mitford Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

His brother Md Shuvo filed a murder case with Sutrapur Police the following day.

Police have since arrested seven suspects, including five teenagers.

Investigating officer Sub-Inspector Lokman Hossain said all seven had confessed before a court but added that investigators were still trying to establish the motive.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Lalbagh Division, however, says it has already solved the mystery.

Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Talebur Rahman said the violence erupted after a dispute over holding the ceremonial ropes used during the Tazia procession.

“An altercation and subsequent brawl ensued between the victim and the attackers. At one point, the attackers chased the victim,” he said.

According to police, Zakir tried to hide beneath the Ispahani Building before being cornered and stabbed to death.

Officers later recovered a switchblade, a machete and clothing allegedly worn by the attackers.

His family remains unconvinced.

Shuvo said he was asleep when his mother woke him with the news of his brother's killing.

"I later went to Mitford Hospital with my cousin and identified his body," he said.

He believes Zakir may have been deliberately lured to the procession.

"My brother had never gone to a procession outside our area before."

According to relatives who accompanied Zakir, someone first struck him with a metal pipe, causing him to flee into a nearby building.

At least three men chased him upstairs before killing him.

Shuvo has also questioned the police's theory that the murder stemmed from a quarrel over the procession ropes.

Addressing the police’s claim of a dispute over the procession, Shuvo requested that the CCTV footage be examined.

“Let [police] check and see if [the attackers] killed my brother for grabbing the rope. My brother didn’t go alone. Three others were with him and they also held the rope. If that was the reason, why weren't they attacked too?"

For Zakir's family, the arrests have brought little comfort. Until the motive is fully established, they say, the brutal killing of a man they describe as harmless and childlike remains impossible to comprehend.