'I couldn't even give my son some water when he lay in his deathbed'

Shubho Sheel was lying on a bed in Savar's Enam Medical College Hospital with a bullet hole in his stomach when his mother reached him on 20 July. 

Seeing his mother, he asked for some water.

"My son asked for some water. He was telling me that his body was getting numb. He was telling me that he might not survive this. But I couldn't give my child a single drop of water before his death," said Shadhana Sheel, Shubho's mother. 

"I begged the doctor to let me give my son some water, but they didn't allow it. My boy was taken to the operation theatre, and then the ICU. He never spoke again after the surgery," she added. 

Shubho, the 24-year-old readymade garment (RMG) worker, was among those shot during the violence centring quota protests in Savar on 20 July afternoon.  

Right before losing consciousness, he managed to talk to his elder brother Shohagh Sheel on his mother's phone. 

"I won't survive, dada. They shot me. I pleaded a lot, but they didn't listen to me at all. I said I work in garments, yet they dragged me to the street and shot me in the stomach," Shubho said to his elder brother.

Shubho's family said he was a sewing operator at KAC Fashion Limited in Ashulia's Chakraborty area. He joined the RMG factory during the Covid-19 pandemic to support his family. 

He lived in a rented house in the Jirani Bazar area of Ashulia with his family, and was the younger of two brothers.

His mother said he was caught in the clash at the Savar bus stand area while returning home from his uncle's place, where he spent the previous night. 

As shots were fired, Shubho took shelter in a nearby market to save his life. 

He stepped out for a moment to assess if the situation was calmer so that he could make his way home. But he was shot right then.

Lying with bullet wounds on the street, Shubho called his mother. He later lost consciousness and was found by locals who took him to Enam Medical College Hospital in the evening. 

He was admitted to the ICU where he passed away at around 5:04am on 23 July.

His brother Shohagh said, "After getting shot, Shubho made a phone call to my mother. I answered. I told him to ask nearby people to take him to the hospital, and we were on our way."

"Why was my innocent boy shot even after identifying himself?" His mother said.

"We are not involved in any politics, in any movement. They grabbed him by the collar, dragged him to the street, and shot him. What was my son's fault? The bullet entered my son's stomach and came out the other side, what pain my son must have endured. I demand justice for the murder of my son."