SEVERAL hundred students of Stamford University Bangladesh continued demonstrations for the second consecutive day on Saturday at Siddheshwari and Dhanmondi in Dhaka demanding justice for the alleged murder of their fellow Rubaiyat Sharmin Rumpa on Wednesday.
The protesters said they would go for tougher agitation movement if the government fails to ensure quick justice to the murder. Witnesses said the students in presence of teachers held placards demanding justice for Rubaiyat and also chanted slogans seeking women’s safety.
Ramna police on Wednesday found the body of Rubaiyat, 22, a second year student of English at Stamford University, between two high-rises at Siddheshwari area, just opposite to Criminal Investigation Department Headquarters. Immediately, her body was immediately sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for post mortem prior to identification. Later her family members identified the body as Rubaiyat, daughter of Rokan Uddin, an Inspector of the Police posted in Habiganj.
We know that lapses can occur in the delivery of post mortems so the first thing which needs to be taken care of is that the post mortem occurs speedily and the report is delivered quickly. Meanwhile all the CCTVs near the place of death should be scrutinised carefully to see if possible suspects exist.
However, we don’t have anything close to a world class investigating team in any of our police stations. So we will have to rely on physical evidence like CCTV cameras or confessions to get the murder investigation solved. This is a country where the murders of prominent journalists Sagar-Runi way back in 2012 are still unsolved.
The main reason for this is undue influence – whether political or financial, on cases by those guilty of such. There have been no solid investigations on cases like the infamous murder of Salman Shah — the famous actor, or indeed in a host of other cases. The main reasons for this have been the political or financial influences on the investigation.
Besides, political influence must be removed from the recruitment process so that we get efficient officers. This is easier said than done as no government will in all likelihood do it. Also no government has taken steps to build capable investigating teams in any of our police stations.
After seven years the police are still waiting for DNA samples from the abovementioned Sagar-Runi murders which have been apparently sent to the FBI Crime Lab in the USA. So we can see that the way we treat our murder scenes and the evidences in the scenes are still utterly abysmal. We don’t have standard lab facilities or skilled investigators to investigate deaths. So if there is no strong physical evidence or confessions then God help any of us if we happen to be murdered.
Scientific knowledge is unimportant for identifying the victims. Truth is difficult to come by but money can buy truth. Courage comes to do kidnapping girls, and raping and killing come in the most cases from created arrogance of power. The government created the dangerously notorious ‘Casino’ party and its members are at work everywhere. They feel they are as powerful as the government, nothing can touch them. This is the general view only police can reveal the truth if so wants.
