Facing repeated interrogation by law enforcers will not only destroy the mental balance of Tonu’s family members but also make them further traumatised, say psychologists and psychiatrists.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune they emphasised on the need for special training for law enforcers to deal with people, especially family members of victims, in criminal cases like the rape and murder of Sohagi Jahan Tonu.
Since the death of Tonu, a second year student of Comilla Victoria College and theatre activist, on March 20, her family members have been interrogated separately by the Rapid Action Battalion, police’s Detective Branch (DB), Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) and some other investigation agencies.
The persons questioned include Tonu’s father Yaar Hossain, mother Anowara Begum, brothers Nazmul and Anowar Hossain and cousin Laizu Jahan. Yaar Hossain, an office assistant of the Cantonment Board who lives inside the cantonment with his family, filed the murder case.
It is learnt that all the investigation agencies had picked up the family members from their house and took them to their offices for interrogation, and the officials asked them almost the same questions.
Latest, the CID officials questioned the family members for nearly seven hours on Saturday.
The rape-murder incident has created much hype across the country while Bangladeshis living abroad have also been demonstrating for immediate arrest of the culprits and their exemplary punishment.
The National Human Rights Commission has expressed doubt over the investigation process while the chief justice has observed that the murder case could not be tried under the existing laws of the country.
During a visit to the CID’s Comilla office on Saturday, it was found that Tonu’s mother was not able to walk alone. Her two sons who were helping her said that she had not been feeling well due to high blood pressure.
About the interrogation, Yaar Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune: “I was asked the same type of questions repeatedly. I am the plaintiff of the case but it seems that I am the accused.
“They [law enforcers] asked: Why did we not marry her off? Did Tonu have any affair? How would she spend the money she earned from tuitions?”
Tonu’s family members were first questioned by Sub-Inspector Saiful Islam of Kotwali police. He submitted the findings to the DB police.
The second investigation officer of the case, DB police OC AKM Manzul Alam, said that they had interrogated Tonu’s family members to verify some information. The DB got the charge of the investigation on March 25.
Finally, the sensational case was shifted to the CID on March 29.
CID Inspector Gazi Md Ibrahim, the current investigation officer, gave a similar reasoning for questioning Tonu’s family members, saying they had got some clues and information regarding the incident and were analysing those to solve the case.
About the repeated interrogation, Abdul Kahar Akand, the CID special superintendent coordinating the investigation, said: “We are asking them questions for information. If we need to know something more, we will interrogate them again. It is part of our investigation.”
Psychologists, however, think that the law enforcers need special training to interrogate the victim’s family members properly.
Prof Dr Mehtab Khanam of educational and counselling psychology department at Dhaka University said interrogation is part of a case’s investigation. “But the officers need to be trained up for this. The police should have a trained group of interrogators.
“If the questioning is conducted in a non-professional manner, the family members will definitely be traumatised,” she told the Dhaka Tribune.
Dr Ashok Kumar Saha, chairman of psychology department at Jagannath University, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The family members can be interrogated but the officers need to do this like a smooth counselling.
“The culprits behind the murder have not been arrested yet but the investigators are interrogating the family members repeatedly. It is a bad sign. Such behaviour will scare them and affect their mental balance.”
Salma Ali, executive director of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers’ Association, thinks that questioning the family members about the girl’s character was unacceptable. “The family has been victimised on a regular basis.
“They [officers] can question anyone for the sake of a case. But they cannot raise questions over the character of the victim. It should stop. The mindset of the law enforcers must change. Even a sex worker cannot be blamed for being raped.
“Now rape victims have to prove that they have been raped. But it should be the opposite – in which an alleged rapist should prove his innocence,” Salma Ali said.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
