The family of ill-fated Dhaka University student Elma Chowdhury Meghla rejected the Detective Branch (DB) of police’s investigation report saying she (Elma) did not commit suicide rather she was tortured to death.
“Plainclothes police has turned the murder of Elma into suicide by tampering with autopsy and subsequent probe reports for money, Elma's mother Sharmin Chowdhury claimed at a press conference recently.
She alleged her daughter husband Iftekhar Abedin, 36, in association with his family members tortured to Elma to death but police helped the accused go free by turning the murder into suicide.
“The DB police prepared investigation report. But the report is completely biased as police were influenced by money and power of the accused,” she said adding the forensic report of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) had been changed.
Sharmin Chowdhury said her daughter’s body bore several injury marks alongside burns from cigarettes.
“We noticed that there is no similarity between the autopsy report and the investigation report,” victim mother continued.
Elma was not murdered but unable to bear the torture, she committed suicide, after nearly four months of investigation, the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said.
Elma Chowdhury Meghla, 25, a final year student of the dance department of Dhaka University, was found dead in her in-laws’ house at Banani of the capital on December 14 last year, three days after her expatriate husband Iftekhar Abedin, 35, an expatriate living in Canada, Iftekhar returned home recently. There were scars on various parts of her body.
Soon after the incident police arrested Iftekhar Abedin for his suspected involvement in the killing.
Talking to media Mashiur Rahman, deputy commissioner of DB's Gulshan division, said they have confirmed from digital-forensic evidence as well as the interrogation of the accused and other witnesses that Elma has committed suicide. Unable to bear the disrespectful behavior of her husband-in-law and mother-in-law, Elma committed suicide, the DB investigation report said, adding her husband, father-in-law, and mother-in-law persuaded her to commit suicide.
Elma's mother Sharmin Chowdhury also said that they came to know that the DMCH forensic department chief was called by the DB office and he was forced to tamper with the autopsy report.
“Why a forensic doctor needed to meet DB officials to prepare an autopsy report,” she said.
Elma’s family members also demanded justice for her daughter as she was what they say ‘tortured to death’ by her husband and in-laws.
“We want justice for the killing of my daughter. We demand death penalty of the killers,” Sharmin Chowdhury.
The family members of the victim also have sought the intervention of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to ensure proper investigation of the murder.
“I’m appealing to the Prime Minister to ensure justice for my daughter as she was tortured to death,” Sharmin Chowdhury said.
Apart from the family members, Elma’s classmates and other students and teachers of Dhaka University also demanded neutral investigation of the murder and exemplary punishment of the criminals involved in the incident.
Her classmates other students said Elma’s husband would not let her participate in classes and she was kept under constant surveillance.
She was tortured a lot mentally and this was a planned murder, they added.
The teachers also demanded a proper investigation into the death of Elma.
Professor Rezwana Choudhury, Chairman of the Dance Department termed the Elma’s death unusual, demanding a fair investigation and speedy trial from her department.
Arts Faculty Dean Prof Abu Md Delwar Hossain said it is not only a tragic death but also a brutal.
DU Proctor Prof AKM Golam Rabbani termed the death as a brutal murder, urging the government to bring the culprit to book immediately.
“The Dhaka University administration will always be on the side of Elma’s family,” he added.
