Two protesters die from injuries suffered during the Anti-discrimination Student Movement

Two youths, who were injured during protests sparked by the demand for reforms to the public sector job quotas, have succumbed to their injuries.

Karimul Islam, 22, an employee at a lemon wholesale shop in Jatrabari, was shot on Aug 5 during the protests. He was declared dead at 5:15pm on Monday by doctors at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, or DMCH, where he had been undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit of the burn unit.

“Karimul’s body has been sent to the hospital morgue for a post-mortem examination,” said Inspector Md Faruk, in charge of the DMCH police camp.

Karimul’s younger brother Mahmudul Hasan said his brother had been shot in the chest, right arm, and chin near Jatrabari intersection on Aug 5. He was immediately admitted to DMCH.

Karimul, the eldest of four brothers, was the son of Md Shahab Uddin, a juice trader from Habiganj’s Lakhai Upazila.

He lived with his family in a rented house in Jatrabari’s Kutubkhali. His wife, Myna Begum, is four months pregnant.

Meanwhile, Saiful Islam Arif, 16, a madrasa student from Feni, died on the same day in the morning at the Combined Military Hospital, or CMH, in Dhaka. He had been under treatment for 56 days following a head injury suffered during the Anti-discrimination Student Movement on Aug 4.

Saiful, a student of Darbeshhat Fazil Madrasa in Daganbhuiyan Upazila, was critically injured when attacked at a sit-in protest at the Central Railway Building, or CRB, in Chattogram.

His cousin Mohammad Monir said, “Saiful was struck on the head with a hockey stick by members of the authoritarian government while participating in the movement.”

Saiful was initially admitted to Chattogram Medical College Hospital but was transferred to CMH in Dhaka on Sept 8 as his condition deteriorated.

Saiful, the eldest of four siblings, leaves behind three younger sisters.