Gun pellets stopped Khalid Hasan Saifullah, a 16-year-old student, from reaching home in the Azimpur Government Staff Quarter on July 18.
He was on his way home after the asr prayers in Azimpur Chhapra Mosque that day amidst attacks on student protests seeking public job quota reforms.
His father, Kamrul Hasan, a homoeopathic practitioner, said on July 30 that they had run helter-skelter looking for his son. But the family had to wait for three days, until July 21, to get the body.
Khalid, a Class聽XI student of the Ideal College at Dhanmondi, is one of the 218 people killed in violence and the aftermath between July 16 and August 3 as law enforces and ruling Awami League people attacked the student protesters seeking reforms in public job quota.
Khalid went out for a routine walk after the prayers. But a clash broke out between law enforcers and the student protesters. Along with many others, he rushed inside the quarter for shelter.
He was hit with pellet gunshots as the law enforcers fired into the quarter for two hours and a half beginning at 3:30pm, Kamrul said, quoting witnesses.
Two young people took Khalid to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where physicians pronounced him dead at about 7:20pm.
As Kamrul came to know that his son was in the hospital, he rushed there and found his son lying lifeless. Khalid had at least 71 wounds in the chest and the abdomen. The mouth and the nose were all bloodied, Kamrul said.
鈥楾he police are meant to ensure security for people. But what did they do to my son?鈥� Kamrul lamented.
鈥榃e went to the Lalbagh police that night for clearance. The police asked us to go there the next morning,鈥� Kamrul said. 鈥楽o we did. But the police did not help us. They sent us to the morgue and asked us to wait for them.鈥�
鈥榃ithout having to grieve over my son鈥檚 death, we had to shuttle between the police station and the morgue. We had to visit the office of the deputy commissioner a couple of times for the clearance,鈥� said Kamrul.
The family was allowed to take the body home about 5:00pm on July 21 after a post-mortem examination. Khalid was buried in the family graveyard in Faridpur the next day.
鈥業 taught my son to be honest. I had a dream that he would become a lawyer to work for people鈥檚 rights. But as I buried my son, I buried my dream along with鈥� Kamrul said.