Family will not send Magura child's sister back to her in-laws' house

Despite support from individuals and organisations, the members of the family feel no peace

The family of the 8-year-old victim of rape and murder in Magura’s Sreepur Upazila will no longer send the child's elder sister back to her in-laws' house.

The child's mother said that she, her family, and relatives all had agreed on this.

The victim’s house in the Upazila’s Zaria village was shrouded in grief on Saturday afternoon.

Despite the support and cooperation from numerous individuals and institutions, the members of the bereaved family feel no peace.

The child's mother said her husband is a person with disabilities. He was sent to a hospital for treatment two days ago.

She is now spending days at home with her eldest daughter and two other children.

The woman said her elder daughter had to leave school just ahead of the SSC test and got married at Nijananduali village in Magura suburb.

Her second daughter is a fourth grader at Zaria Government Primary School while the little one was a third grader at the institution. She has a one-and-a-half-year-old son.

The child's father is having some sort of mental disorder even though he took the reins of the family by pedalling a battery-run rickshaw. His vehicle was stolen at that time.

Later, he bought another rickshaw with an NGO loan.

However, he had to sell the three-wheeler for his treatment afterwards.

Later, the family took another loan of Tk 300,000 from different institutions. The money ended up in the marriage of the eldest daughter Hamida, who gave a single name, and the maintenance of the family.

After a point, they had to struggle to repay the loan.

The family has only seven acres of land to live on. The house was also given by the government.

The girl was raped at her elder sister's husband's house on Mar 6.

She died while undergoing treatment at the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka on Mar 13 after battling for life in different hospitals across the country for eight days.

News of the incident sparked nationwide condemnation.

On Mar 8, the child’s mother filed a rape and attempt-to-murder case against four people at Magura Sadar Police Station over the incident.

The accused are the child's brother-in-law Sojib Hossain, 18, his father Hitu Sheikh, 42, a minor teenager, 17, and their mother Jabeda Begum, 40. All the perpetrators are currently in jail.

On Mar 10, the court placed Hitu on a seven-day and three others on a five-day remand each.

Hitu gave a confessional statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) at the court of Magura Senior Judicial Magistrate Sabyasachi Roy on Mar 15.

The child’s mother said, "I want the death penalty for those who killed my daughter with such pain. The only bread earner of my family has mental issues. I don't know how we’ll survive.

“Many people are coming and in touch with us. Few have supported us, and many have promised to cooperate.

In a choking voice, she said: "What I have seen in the last few days, the country is with me. The work of filling the pit for a new house has already started. Magura DC Ohidul Islam, Sreepur UNO Rakhi Banerjee are always in touch with us and made financial assistance.

“On behalf of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, the party sent gifts, including clothes and food items. The Jamaat emir, Central Women's Party president, former female MPs, and leaders of different political parties in the district and Upazila have come and extended their cooperation."