KURIGRAM, Aug 2: In the first week of July as he headed from his family home in Kurigram to where he lived and worked in Dhaka, Raihanul Islam Raihan promised to take his wife and child to the capital the next time he went.
But Raihan, shot by a bullet during the violence surrounding the quota protest movement, has returned home permanently to be buried in the graveyard of his family's village.
Raihan was the only child of Abdur Rashid, who hailed from Munshipara in the Ulipur Upazila of Kurigram. He worked as an assistant manager at a company called 'Stroke and Security' in Dhaka. He was shot in Dhaka's Badda on Jul 19 and died at the scene.
At his village home, Rashid, a small businessman by trade, was nearly speechless after his son's death. His wife was the same. Raihan's wife, Ritu Akhtar, sat with her four-month-old daughter in her lap, tears streaming down her face.
Rashid prayed at the grave of his son, raising his hands to the sky. Afterwards, he said that Raihan had planned to take his wife and children to Dhaka, but it would never happen now.
"I am speechless," he said. "Raihan had a four-month-old daughter. His wife has lost her husband, his daughter has lost her father, and I lost my son. Now I demand strict justice from the government for my son's murder."
As Rashid spoke, the air was split by Ritu's cries. While holding her daughter, she said she wanted justice for her husband's murder. Their neighbours and relatives have also taken up the demand.
While wiping her eyes with her shawl, Ritu said her husband had left the house on Jul 19 in Dhaka's Badda for Jummah prayers. He was returning home that afternoon after having lunch. On his way back, he got stuck in traffic amid a clash.
"Then, a bullet struck him near his right eye and emerged out the other side. He died on the spot, his prayer mat on his shoulder."
Raihan's body was sent to his village home in Ulipur by 10pm that night.
It arrived the following morning. Funeral prayers were held at the MS School and College field at 11:30am and then he was buried at the Ulipur central graveyard.
Raihan's uncle Apon Alamgir said his nephew passed his HSC exams in Ulipur and continued his higher studies at Dhaka College before starting a job in the capital.
"My nephew worked in the private sector. He was not involved in any politics. He was the apple of everyone's eye in our area. He will never return. Our demand to the government is that, at the least, we get justice for his murder." —bdnews24.com
