Sagar murder accused must be punished

A youth named Sagar has been beaten to death tying him to an electric pole for allegedly stealing a water machine from a local hatchery at Char Sreerampur village in Gauripur upazila of Mymensingh district on September 25. Soon after the incident, a photo and a video footage, that showed how the youth was beaten to death, went viral on social media on the day. The brutal torture Sagar suffered was very appalling.

The astonishing matter is that some over enthusiastic people was witnessing the way Sagar was being brutally tortured tying to an electric pole. But no one came to save him despite repeated shouting for help.

Sagar used to work at Gauchia hatchery at Char Sreerampur village in Gauripur upazila of Mymensingh district. He was caught for allegedly stealing a water machine from the hatchery located on the Mymensingh-Kishoreganj highway early Monday. Later, the owner of the hatchery and his people beat up the boy mercilessly. At one stage of torture, they threw his body in a roadside field when the boy succumbed to his injuries on the way to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital. That brutality is back has been clear from this incident. The tendency to take law into one's own hand is not removing from the society.

Earlier, Md Samiul Alam Rajon, 13, was tortured to death at Kumargaon in Sylhet city on July 8, 2015. Rakib Howlader, another boy, became a victim of same torture. Rakib's former employer and his accomplice and uncle on August 3, 2015, stripped the boy naked, inserted a high-pressure air pump nozzle into his rectum and filled the abdomen with air, as a punishment for changing workplace. Rakib's intestines tore apart and lungs burst as air filled the abdomen, which left him dead. The killings of the two boys sparked outrage all over the country. The accused involved in the murders were detained and tried. But it seems that the tendency to take law into one's own hand is not stopping.

Nazim Uddin, 16, was brutally beaten to death by a mob in Dhaka’s Khilkhet area on April 13 last year for allegedly stealing a pigeon from a neighbour’s house and his body was dumped in the nearby Balu River. Later on April 16, Nazim's body was recovered from the Shitalakkhya River at Noapara of Rupganj in Narayanganj. This time, Sagar was beaten to death tying him to an electric pole in front of villager, suspecting him to be a thief. Now a question raises why brutality is back and culprits are taking law into their own hands again and again.

Gauripur hatchery owner alleged that Sagar was caught red-handed while he was stealing a water machine from his hatchery. But law exists in the country. Sagar could be handed over to law enforcers. Instead of doing so, why he was beaten to death? Where did the hatchery owner get the power to kill a boy from?

Sagar murder cannot be taken as a simple incident. The hatchery owner has no right to take law into his own hand how influential he is. Law exists in the country. Sagar could be handed over to law enforcers. Ignoring law, those who took law into their own hands and beat the boy to death must be given exemplary punishment. We want all involved in such brutal killing be given exemplary punishment. Steps should be taken so that such incident can be repeated in the society.

risingbd/Dhaka/Sept 28, 2017/Ali Nowsher/Amirul