Hasib Ahasan, aged 50, was the cornerstone of the family. Anyone would fall back on him for everything, from money to everyday chores.
After the jumma prayers on July 19, Hasib, employed in a private company, was spending time with his family in the drawing room on the second floor of a building on Road 3 at Banasree in Dhaka.
Sudden noise on the road during the unrest sparked by student protests for reforms in civil service job reservations distracted him.
He walked to the window in the bedroom to look outside to see what was going on. His daughter, Sumaita Ahasan, stood close to him. Others gathered in the room.
鈥榃e heard something exploding all of a sudden. Moments later, we saw him falling down on the floor. He was bleeding in the right eye,鈥� Hasib鈥檚 wife Jasmin Ahasan said on October 29.
A bullet had grazed Sumaita鈥檚 forehead before it struck Hasib. Hasib died in National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital about 2:30am on July 22.
Sumaita, a third-year student of the University of Dhaka, had a stitch on the forehead.
鈥楾he death snatched our smile and our security,鈥� Jasmin said.
Hasib, who lost his father when he was in Class IV, took care of the family 鈥� his wife, two daughters and his 62-year-old mother, Khaleda Ahasan.
鈥楬e was very composed. We heavily depended on him, even for chores such as filling out forms,鈥� Jasmin added.
The deaths left the family in financial hardship and trauma. Everything happened before the family. His other daughter, Sarinah Ahasan, is a Class V student.
The family is now planning to move to a small flat as they cannot afford to pay the rent, about Tk 28,000 a month.
The family now meet their expenses with the rent of a flat at Gandaria that Hasib鈥檚 mother owns. The relatives have also come to their aid.
The student protests, which began on July 1, flared up into a mass uprising later that month, overthrowing the Awami League government on August 5.
The Directorate General of Health Services on September 24 said that its preliminary investigation had listed 708 people having died in the protests and uprising.