Unidentified body recovery, deaths in custody increase in October: MSF

Unidentified bodies and deaths in custody in the country have increased in the current month of October compared to the previous month.

Human rights organization Manabadhikar Sanskriti Foundation (MSF) has highlighted this information in its October human rights report.

The report says that the increase in these two incidents has raised doubts in the public mind about the role of law enforcement agencies.

The MSF report says that a total of 66 unidentified bodies were recovered in October. This is not only undesirable; rather, it has become a major cause of insecurity in civilian life. Last month (September), the number was 52.

Most of these unidentified bodies were found floating in rivers or ponds, next to highways or roads, under bridges, next to railway lines, in crop fields and abandoned places.

A small number of bodies were recovered with their throats slit, wrapped in sacks and covered in blood or with signs of injury to their bodies.

MSF said that the number of unidentified bodies recovered is increasing and is a strong reflection of the insecurity of public life. In addition, the inability to identify unidentified bodies has called into question the role of law enforcement agencies.

According to MSF, the bodies of one child, one teenager, 11 women and 53 men were recovered from different parts of the country in October. Among those, there is a 7-year-old child; a 15-year-old teenager; 15 men and two women aged 20 to 30; 19 men and six women aged 31 to 40; one woman and five men aged 41 to 50; and 11 men and one woman over 50. Of these, the ages of the three unidentified bodies could not be determined.

MSF said that the responsibility does not end with just reporting that an unidentified body has been recovered; rather, it is very important to know the identity. It is the duty of the state to recover the identity and ensure legal action against those involved in the murder.

According to MSF, a total of 13 prisoners died in custody in October. The number was eight last month. Six prisoners and seven detainees died this month.

Four prisoners and two detainees died in Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj, one prisoner in Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur and one prisoner in Sherpur District Jail. In addition, one prisoner each died in Khulna District Jail, Tangail District Jail, Chittagong District Jail, Sirajganj Jail and Manikganj District Jail. All prisoners died outside the prison in hospitals.

MSF Executive Director Saidur Rahman said that the increase in deaths in custody and the recovery of unidentified bodies illustrates the extreme deterioration of the human rights situation.

Law enforcement agencies, including the police, are stopping at recovering these bodies. But it is not only the job of these forces to recover these bodies, identify them, and conduct post-mortems and autopsy to reveal the cause of death, but also to deliver these bodies to their relatives. But law enforcement agencies have no other job except filing an unnatural death case.

Saidur Rahman said that the increase in the number of unidentified bodies and the increase in deaths in custody creates doubts in the public mind about the role of law enforcement agencies.

In October, 549 people were victims of 49 incidents of political violence. Of these, two were killed and 547 were injured. Four of the injured were shot and the deceased were BNP workers and supporters. There were 38 incidents of political violence in September.

Out of the 49 incidents of violence, 11 incidents involved attacks on party offices, homes, businesses, and arson and cocktail explosions centered on political disputes and violence. However, no casualties were reported in these incidents.

There were 44 total cases of mass beatings in October. The previous month, there were 43 such incidents. The number of people killed in mass beatings this month was 12. The previous month, 24 people were killed.

MSF highlights the human rights situation in the country every month. MSF prepares the human rights report based on reports published in newspapers and its own information research.