Minority rights orgs protest domestic worker Preeti's death at Daily Star journo’s home
Rights organisations working on ethnic minority communities have staged demonstrations in the capital's Shahbagh to protest the death of 15-year-old domestic worker Preeti Urang after falling from the ninth-floor apartment of Daily Star Executive Editor Syed Ashfaqul Haque.
Speaking at the event today (14 February), Adivasi Chhatra Sangram Parishad President Alik Mree alleged that the investigation into Preeti Urang's death is being influenced by bribe attempts.
Adivasi Chhatra Sangam Parishad will call for a tougher movement if this case is influenced and justice is not ensured, he said.
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Jagadish Chakma, president of Dhaka Metropolitan unit of Pahari Chhatra Parishad, alleged, "Attempts are ongoing to temper with Preeti Orang's case in exchange of two Tk2 lakh [to Preeti's family]."
During the rally, Falguni Tripura, coordinator of the Bangladesh Indigenous Women's Network, said all the women across the country will not remain silent if Preeti Orang's killers go unpunished.
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The death of Preeti Urang has ignited protests demanding justice and punishment for those responsible.
The Human Rights Forum Bangladesh (HRPB), a human rights body, has also expressed deep concern and demanded fair probe into the death of Preeti.
Besides, Naripakkho, a women's rights organisation, demanded a fair probe into the death of Priti and punishment of those involved in the death.
On 6 February, the house help, Preeti Urang, fell from the ninth floor and sustained heavy injury. After being taken to a nearby hospital, the on-duty doctor declared her dead.
The next day, her father, Lokesh Urang, filed a case with Mohammadpur police station, naming journalist Syed Ashfaqul Haque and his wife, Tania Khondoker. Following the filing of the case, both accused were promptly arrested.
A Dhaka court yesterday (13 February) granted four-day remands for the couple in the case.
In the case statement, Lukesh Urang said his daughter had been sent to Dhaka two years ago to work as a maid, aiming to alleviate their family's financial struggles. Throughout this period, Preeti never visited her family, with Lukesh relying on occasional phone calls to the house owner to stay in touch.
Lukesh Urang, as the plaintiff, also said that Preeti fell from the 8th floor of apartment No. 2/7 in Mohammadpur's Shahjahan Road area around 8am on Tuesday due to the absence of safety bars on the window of the flat's drawing space. He highlighted that a similar incident occurred last year on 4 August, where another housekeeper sustained severe injuries from falling out of the same window.
Lukesh attributed these repeated accidents to the negligence and carelessness of the house owner and occupants, emphasising the lack of protective barriers on the windows as the root cause.
On 6 August last year, another domestic worker, Ferdausi, fell from the balcony of Syed Ashfaqul Haque's home and was seriously injured.
She was rescued and treated first at the Suhrawardy Hospital and later at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Josna Begum, the mother of the injured domestic worker, then filed a case with Mohammadpur Police Station against Syed Ashfaqul Haque, his wife Tania Khondoker and another person named Asma Akhtar.
