Selim, shot 75 times, died before he learnt of his wife’s pregnancy

Four days after Selim succumbed to his wounds, the family learnt that his wife Sumi Akhter was pregnant

Selim Talukder, shot multiple times amid the Anti-discrimination Student Movement protests, fought for his life for 12 days. By the time he died, he had no idea that his bloodline would still continue.

On Jul 17, Selim’s wife Sumi Akhter took a pregnancy test. The following day, Selim was shot in front of BRAC University in Merul Badda’s Pragati Sarani after he left home.

Fearing police harassment, the family moved Selim from hospital to hospital for 12 hours. He was finally admitted to the Popular Hospital in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi.

There, he was on life support until his death on Aug 1.

On Aug 2, Selim was buried in his ancestral home of Nalchiti in Jhalakathi with 75 bullet wounds in his head, chest and back. It was two days after Selim and Sumi’s first wedding anniversary.

Then, on Aug 5, the day the Sheikh Hasina government fell, the family learnt that Sumi was pregnant. That day, she was four weeks and six days into her pregnancy. Selim died never knowing that he was to be a father.

Selim was born to rent-a-car driver Sultan Talukder and his wife Selima Begum. He had three sisters and lived with his family on the Badda Link Road.

The family says that Selim completed his honours degree from the BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology and began working at a company called Narayanganj Multifabs Limited. He was awaiting admission to a Master’s programme.

He took a leave from his office to join the Anti-discrimination Student Movement protests. On the night of Jul 17, he took out his old ID card from his university days. On the morning of Jul 18, he left home without having breakfast, despite his mother’s requests.

At 11am that day, his wife received a phone call. A young man told her that Selim had been shot in front of BRAC University.

Selim’s father Sultan said that, due to fear of police harassment, he did not admit his son to a hospital. It was only after 12 hours of breathless running around that they found him a spot at Popular Hospital.

He said that when he tried to get the death certificate for his son, he was forced by the police to agree that the death was from natural causes.

“I lost my only son. He will never come back to me. So I do not want to get involved in any legal trouble.”

On Aug 2, after funeral prayers at the local mosque, Selim was laid to rest at the family graveyard in Nalchiti. Student protesters have renamed the ‘Bijoy Ullash 71’ square at the bus stand in Nalchiti as ‘Shaheed Selim Talukder Sriti Square’.