Abu Ishaque, who returned home to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr with the family after having lived for about 17 months in Saudi Arabia, was supposed to fly back to the Gulf state on August 14. But he could not do it.
Ishaque, 56 years old, was shot in the Kutubkhali area near Jatrabari about 1:30pm allegedly by the police when he was walking in a procession towards Ganabhaban on August 5.
The student protests that had spanned July seeking reforms in civil service job reservations flared up into a mass uprising, finally toppling the Awami League government that day.
鈥業shaque was shot in the head,鈥� said Jahid Hossain, his brother-in-law, who was also walking along.
Ishaque鈥檚 wife, Kamrun Nahar Shimu, learnt of his injury when an unnamed person answered her call to his mobile a few minutes after he had been shot.
She called her son, Adit Chowdhury, a first-year bachelor鈥檚 student at the South-East University, who, along with his uncle Jahid, had also joined the protests that day in the Kajla area.
Adit and Jahid took Ishaque to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where he was pronounced dead an hour later.
The death made life difficult for Kamrun Nahar and their two children. They also suffer more as the family has yet to get the death certificate, which has delayed many essential tasks that require the document.
鈥楾he hospital told us that there would be no death certificates for anyone taken there after 2:00pm on August 5. It will issue the certificate once the government makes an official notification on the matter,鈥� said Jahid, who had visited the hospital and the Directorate General of Health Services for three months seeking to get the certificate.
The family is, meanwhile, trying to resolve the issue of a loan that he took out to buy a car in Saudi Arabia. The lender requires a death certificate to settle the loan. They also cannot apply for financial assistance from Ishaque鈥檚 employer without the certificate.
Ishaque has been named on the DGHS list and the July Martyrs Memorial Foundation. The death certificate has yet to be issued.
鈥楬e left me with two children. My son is 21 and my daughter is 14. He was a remittance earner. But, now it seems no one cares to help us,鈥� said his Kamrun Nahar on November 3.
A hospital official on November 5 said that the people who had taken bodies without waiting for death certificates from July 16 to August 6 were facing problems because of some legal issues.
The official said that the hospital authorities have already written to the health ministry seeking a solution to the problem.
Jahid said, 鈥榃e buried the body without a post-mortem examination. The authorities told us they would issue the certificate later.鈥�
The Directorate General of Health Services on September 24 said its preliminary investigation had listed 708 people having died in the protests and uprising.
