July uprising victims: Families await closure as CID exhumes bodies

For the past
year and a half, 60-year-old Rasheda Begum visited the Rayerbazar graveyard
every Thursday. As she stood near the rows of unnamed graves, she prayed for
the souls of the 114 unidentified victims of the July uprising.
One of those graves, she believes, holds the body of her son.
Yesterday,
Rasheda returned with a flicker of hope that her son's grave might finally be
found, as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) began the exhumation of
the 114 bodies to collect DNA samples for identification.
CID officials, their forensic
team, and specialists from the Dhaka Medical College forensic unit reached the
graveyard around 9:00am to oversee the exhumation work, as family members of
missing victims watched silently.
Argentine forensic anthropologist Luis Fondibrider was also present during the
process, and a temporary forensic lab was set up on the grounds.
Amid the crowd of hopeful
victim families, Rasheda was seen clinging to a photo of her son Sohel Rana,
35.
"My son Sohel went to
Shyampur on July 18 last year to join the protests. He never came back. After
34 days, I visited Dhaka Medical College Hospital and learned that he had been
buried here [Rayerbazar] as an unidentified body," she told this
correspondent as tears streamed down her face.
"Today [yesterday], the CID is exhuming the bodies for DNA testing. I hope
my son's grave will finally be identified."
Standing next to Rasheda was
19-year-old Raiyan Hossain, silently weeping, but with the hope to find his
father Rafiqul Islam's body. "My father left our Gopibagh residence for
Isha prayers around 8:00pm on July 19. He said he would be back soon…."
Rafiqul, owner of a computer
training centre, never returned.
"Since that day, we
searched for him everywhere, including the Dhaka Medical College morgue. We
couldn't find him anywhere… We later learned that several unidentified bodies
had been buried in Rayerbazar.
"Now that CID has begun
exhuming the bodies for DNA identification, we came here with the hope that at
least we could finally know if he was buried here," Raiyan said.
Speaking to this
correspondent later in the afternoon, Sohel's younger brother, Alvi Nabil
Hossain, said, "After 1:00pm, a CID team took us to their headquarters in
Malibagh and collected blood samples from my mother and father for DNA matching
to help find my brother. Like us, family members of several of the missing
victims were taken there for samples."
CID officials said the
identification will take time.
CID Chief Md Sibgat Ullah,
also an additional inspector general of police, told reporters that the entire
process is being carried out following international protocol. "After
exhumation is completed, DNA tests will be conducted. Once identified, if the
families wish, the bodies will be handed over to them for burial. Otherwise,
they'll be reburied here [Rayerbazar] with proper religious rites."
He also noted that forensic
expert Luis Fondibrider, who has conducted similar operations in 65 countries
over the past 40 years, is supervising the work.
"All steps, from
exhumation to reburial, will be carried out in phases. Initially, 114 graves
have been identified, though the final number may vary. After exhumation,
post-mortem examinations and tissue sampling will be done, DNA profiles
prepared, and identities confirmed before reburial."
Sibgat added, "So far,
10 relatives have applied to provide their DNA samples. Others may contact CID,
and their DNA samples will also be collected."
According to sources, two
bodies were exhumed for DNA testing yesterday.
Since the burial of over 100
July uprising victims, the Rayerbazar graveyard has been enclosed with marble
and tiles by the city corporation.
During a visit to the
graveyard on August 2, the Home Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury
announced the government's initiative to identify the victims who had been
marked unidentified.
















