Published : 21 Aug 2023, 06:18 PM
Updated : 21 Aug 2023, 06:18 PM
A young woman has died by jumping off a building in Mirpur DOHS under the jurisdiction of Pallabi Police Station on Sunday. The father of the woman said she was a victim of a crime and committed suicide following the ‘insensitive attitude’ of the investigation officer after they filed a case with the police station.
Police, however, deny the allegation, saying the woman accidentally fell from the roof and died.
Afroza Mimi, 21, a diploma engineering student, died on Sunday. Her father, Afsaruddin, said she had to undergo an abortion after an out-of-marriage relationship with a man. They filed a case of fraudulence and feticide. The investigation officer in the case allegedly called the family frequently to ask for money by threatening to frame the woman for engaging in an ‘illicit’ relationship with a man. This led Afroza to jump off the rooftop killing herself, her father Afsarudin said.
Inspector Mezbahuddin of Pallabi Police Station, however, said the woman could have fallen off the roof accidentally and died. A domestic aide of another family, aged around 14 years, was present on the rooftop at that time. Also, CCTV recorded the incident.
Earlier on Jul 24, another young woman called Boishakhi Begum killed herself amid a drug raid by police at Adorshanagar in Pallabi. Her family blamed the police, saying they locked Boishakhi in a room and when she threatened to commit suicide a police officer asked her to die and threw a scarf at her.
Boishahi hanged herself with the scarf and died. Police said they were investigating the incident but a report has yet to materialise.
FATHER’S ALLEGATIONS
Afsaruddin was found at the morgue in Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital at 10 am on Monday. “We want to file a case of instigation to commit suicide but police are pressurising us to file a case of accidental death,” he said.
“My daughter died yesterday afternoon but police have yet to send their preliminary police report about the body to the morgue. Hence, we couldn’t have an autopsy and bury her.”
Afsaruddin, a businessman, said his daughter Afroza was a diploma student of engineering at the Mirpur Polytechnic Institute. Last year she met a man called Mehedi Hasan Jony lured her with promises of making her a movie star. They later developed a romantic relationship.
At one point, Jony began a live-in relationship with his daughter in a rented apartment in DOHS. Afroza became pregnant and Jony forced her to abort the fetus. After she fell ill, Afsaruddin brought her daughter home in May and filed a case of rape and feticide with the Pallabi Police Station.
Police arrested Jony, but he was released on bail after 17-18 days and began to harass them, said Afsaruddin. In the meantime, Sub Inspector Mobarak Ali, the investigation officer of their case, started to demand money from them.
Afsaruddin finally agreed to pay Tk 50,000 and paid Tk 32,000 in three instalments. Even then, SI Mobarak used to call his daughter Afroza and threatened to issue an investigation report against her. He also threatened to charge her for ‘illicit relationships’ with men.
“Because of the trouble caused by the police, my daughter killed herself. She jumped off the rooftop. I want to file a case of instigation to commit suicide, but they are not providing the report. The morgue authorities said they wouldn’t do an autopsy until the police report arrives,” Afsaruddin said.
“When my daughter became mentally ill, I admitted her to a mental health hospital. But the police called her saying she had to testify and gave other excuses too. I had to bring her back. We couldn’t provide her with treatment anymore. My daughter simply died,” the heartbroken father said.
WHAT POLICE SAY
bdnews24.com spoke to SI Mobarak Ali over the phone and asked him about Afsaruddin’s complaint.
“Listen, my target is to investigate the case. He [Afsaruddin] is in trouble now, so he is saying many things. I don’t want to talk about it anymore but can speak to you in person,” said SI Mobarak.
Pallabi Zone Assistant Commissioner Shahidul Islam said the woman was a victim of a crime. Police were investigating the case but they could not draw a conclusion to the investigation as the medical test report was yet to arrive.
When asked about the investigation officer’s insensitive attitude towards the victim and extorting money from them, Shahidul Islam said they always tried to ensure that everyone gets proper service from the police.
“Whenever there’s a complaint about an investigation officer, we change them. We're hearing of this issue from you, but the plaintiffs never informed us. We could have changed the officer. They could have written to us or informed us orally. But we’ll look into it and the concerned officer will face legal consequences if proven guilty.”
Shahidul suggested bdnews24.com speak to the public relations department of Bangladesh Police and the high-ups in the Mirpur division of police.
“I haven’t heard anything like this. It’s a complicated case. I need to learn more and then can speak to you afterwards,” said Jasimuddin Molla, deputy commissioner of the Mirpur division.
