Speech-impaired Sayeed reunites with mother after nine days in custody
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Sayeed Sheikh, a speech-impaired man arrested for allegedly shouting slogans during an Awami League flash procession near Gulistan, has been released on bail after spending nine days in jail.
He was released from Keraniganj Central Jail on Wednesday afternoon, confirms his uncle Suman Sheikh.
Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Zakir Hossain granted Sayeed bail on Tuesday on humanitarian grounds. The written bail order reached the jail authorities on Wednesday.
From the morning, Sayeed’s mother Sumi, identified with a single name, along with his uncle and other relatives, had waited outside the prison gates. Upon his release, his mother broke down in tears as she embraced her son, who was also seen crying.
On Aug 24, police arrested three people, including Sayeed, under the Anti-Terrorism Act from an Awami League flash procession at Gulistan’s Golap Shah Mazar.
The following day, investigation officer Maksudul Hasan, a sub-inspector of Paltan Model Police Station, produced him before court and sought to interrogate him in custody. In his submission, the officer identified Sayeed as “speech-impaired.”
The court ordered him to jail.
On Aug 25, Sayeed’s lawyers filed a bail petition, describing him as a person with disabilities.
Meanwhile, Maksudul submitted a separate application requesting that Sayeed not be considered “disabled” but rather “stammering or without clear diction”.
On Aug 28, Magistrate Zakir ordered that a medical expert examine Sayeed under the jail code to determine whether he was indeed disabled and submit a report.
At the same hearing, Sayeed’s lawyers pressed for bail again, appealing to the court on humanitarian grounds.
Prosecutor Shamsuddoha Suman opposed the petition, arguing: “This accused is not disabled. He is stammering or unclear in speech. No report has yet confirmed that he is disabled.”
After hearing both sides, the judge said, “Taking into account humanitarian considerations, bail is granted until the police submit their report.”