Domestic worker’s death: police seek 5-day remand for journalist Ashfaqul, wife Tania

The Daily Star’s Executive Editor Syed Ashfaqul Haque and his wife Tania Khondoker have been charged in a case over the death of a teenage domestic worker who fell from their eighth floor flat in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur.

Police asked for permission to take the couple into remand for five days on Wednesday following their arrest in the case filed by Lokesh Urang, father of the 15-year-old victim Preeti Urang.

The charges against the couple involve negligence resulting in death, according to Mahfuzul Haque Bhuiyan, the OC of Mohammadpur Police Station.

Police recovered the body of Preeti after she had fallen from the residential building adjacent to the Geneva Camp on Shahjahan Road on Tuesday morning.

Locals demonstrated outside the house after the incident, alleging Preeti was murdered.

Later, Ashfaqul, Tania, and four other members of the family were taken to the police station for questioning. The four others were released.

On Aug 6 last year, a similar incident took place at Ashfaqul’s house where a 9-year-old house help was severely injured after jumping off of a window of the building.

Her mother accused Ashfaqul, Tania, and another woman of torturing the child in a case over the incident.

Preeti, a member of the Urang community in Moulvibazar’s Kamalganj Upazila, worked as a domestic aide at Ashfaqul’s house for about two years.

bdnews24.com was unable to reach Ashfaqul for his comments about Preeti’s death.

The Daily Star said in a statement, “We are deeply saddened to learn about the incident in which a young house help met with a tragic death at the residence of our senior colleague and Executive Editor Syed Ashfaqul Haque.”

“We express our deepest sorrow at the unfortunate occurrence and convey our deepest condolence to her bereaved family. We await the outcome of the investigation.”