Dhaka court orders trial of Prothom Alo editor in student death

A Dhaka court has opened the trial of Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman and eight others in the death of Residential Model College student Nayeemul Abrar.

The court will start hearing testimonies on Dec 14 in the case, according to a decision by Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge KM Imrul Kayes.

Abrar was electrocuted during an event organised by Prothom Alo’s youth magazine Kishor Alo on the school campus in November 2019.

Abrar, 15, a nonresident student of class nine in Dhaka Residential Model College, received electric shock from a power generator set up behind a stage erected for 'Ki Ananda' -- an event organised by Kishor Alo, a magazine published by Rahman.

After the fatal electric shock, Abrar was taken to the Universal Medical College Hospital in Mohakhali where doctors pronounced him dead.

His father Mujibur Rahman later filed a case with Dhaka’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court, alleging that negligence on part of the organisers led to his son’s death.

In a decision on Thursday, the court acquitted Anisul Hoque, associate editor of Prothom Alo and editor of Kishor Alo.