The teenage boy had been sexually assaulted, says senior assistant commissioner
Seventeen-year-old Uttara O-level student Zubair Ahmed was strangled to death by Abuubaida Kadir, an Algerian citizen who has been living in the country illegally for the last fourteen years, police announced yesterday.
“We determined the cause of death by analysing the forensic department report of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). The victim died as a result of asphyxiation brought on by applying pressure to the throat and cutting off his supply of oxygen. In layman’s terms that means he was strangled to death,” SM Nazmul Alam, senior assistant commissioner (AC) of the Detective Branch of Police, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
Senior AC Nazmul, who is coordinating the investigation of the murder case, said Kadir pressed down on Zubair’s throat from behind – killing him – at some time during the act of anal intercourse.
He said the teenage boy had been sexually assaulted.
The DB officer said evidence of anal intercourse and finger marks on both sides of Zubair’s vocal chords was found in the medical report.
A high detective official, requesting anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune that an appeal would be made to the court to quiz Kadir about possible links to suspected militant organisations and to determine whether he was working as a representative of any foreign organisation.
The same official also said Kadir would be quizzed further about exactly when and where he had sexually assaulted Zubair and whether he had assaulted other boys.
Senior AC Nazmul said no outside organisation or embassy had contacted the authorities about Abuubaida Kadir.
Kadir told us that he went to India before the year 2000 and then entered Bangladesh on a student visa. He started living in this country after destroying his passport, said Senior AC Nazmul.
“Kadir has strong feelings for teenage boys, especially if they are attractive. Interestingly, Kadir says neither he nor his three brothers have married,” a DB police officer said, on condition of anonymity.
“Kadir said there was a curse over his family and neither he nor any of his brothers had married out of fear of the curse,” said the DB official.
An analysis of Kadir’s phone calls and Facebook use shows he had regular communication with his family and friends in Algeria but he never wanted to go back to his country, said the DB official.
Senior AC Nazmul said: “We have come to know from Kadir that some of his friends had visited the country during the last 14 years. We are suspecting that there may be others living in the country like Kadir who are involved in anti-social acts. We are trying to track down foreigners residing illegally in the country who are doing such activities.”
Zubair Ahmed, known to be a good swimmer, allegedly drowned in a shallow pond inside a park in Sector 4 of the capital’s Uttara neighborhood on October 4. Police recovered his body from the pond after Abuubaida Kadir, an Algerian national, showed them where it was on October 5.
Police arrested Kadir on the same day based on a murder case filed by the victim’s mother. Kadir was directly implicated in the murder when the sole eyewitness to the incident, a 17-year-old boy, gave his confessional statement to investigators.
The murder had remained a mystery pending the findings of the medical report last week.
Based on the report, investigators are now claiming that the mystery has been solved.
Senior AC Nazmul said: “Besides being charged for the murder of Zubair, Kadir faces a charge of staying illegally in Bangladesh and a case has been filed against him under the Passport Act. We will submit charges against Kadir soon.”
The Algerian citizen is now behind bars following the conclusion of two remand sessions.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
