ASHUTOSH SARKAR

More than three years have passed since the death of Naogaon’s Sultana Jasmine in Rapid Action Battalion custody, but no criminal case has been filed yet.

The High Court rule questioning the legality of Rab’s action in detaining Jasmine also remains unresolved.

Sultana Jasmine, 41, a land office employee, was picked up and detained by Rab on March 22, 2023. She died in Rab custody at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital two days later. Rab officers reportedly told doctors at the time that Jasmine had suffered a fall.

Md Nazmul Haque Mantu, maternal uncle of Jasmine, told The Daily Star over the phone that they did not file a case as the family had received an indirect threat after the incident, discouraging them from pursuing legal action.

“One person [Jasmine] has already died; we did not want to put ourselves at further risk,” he said.

Jasmine did not have a case against her at the time of detention. She was sued under the then-controversial Digital Security Act, a day after being picked up, on allegations of “siphoning off money from job seekers using a Facebook account”.

“She died due to torture in Rab custody. She had an injury mark on her head. Before detention, she was perfectly healthy,” her son Shahed Hossain Saikat, a student of Chittagong University, had told the media at that time.

Jasmine’s “murder” in Naogaon tarnished the image of the country, Rab and the government, the then Rab director general M Khurshid Hossain reportedly told the then parliamentary standing committee on the home ministry on April 5, 2023.

“The [local] camp was involved in it. The battalion or the headquarters knew nothing,” he said.

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