IN THE changed political context after the fall of the Awami League regime in August 2024, many families of murder and rape victims hoped that their long wait for justice would finally end, but that has not happened. No decisive progress has been made in the 2012 murder of journalist couple Sagar Sarwar and Meherun Runi, even after the government had formed a high-powered task force in September 2024. The task force, like the Rapid Action Battalion before it, has repeatedly sought time to complete the investigation. The same pattern haunts the Tanwir Muhammad Taqi murder case, a student and son of a rights campaigner who was found dead in Narayanganj in 2013, while the Rapid Action Battalion has sought 70 extensions to file the charge sheet. Nine years since Sohagi Jahan Tonu, a theatre activist, was raped and killed inside a cantonment area. Four years since Mosarat Jahan Munia, a college student, was found dead in a flat at Gulshan under circumstances that pointed to foul play. Yet, in each of the cases, the families continue to cry for justice while the government shows the same indifference once displayed by the deposed Awami League regime.
In all the cases that remained in the centre of national attention, allegations were made that all investigating agencies abused the legal system to cover up the crimes involving politically and financially influential quarters. Taqi鈥檚 father alleged the two suspects giving depositions in court were linked to the ruling Awami League and they, thus, enjoyed political protection. In Tonu鈥檚 rape and murder case, the family alleged that the prolonged investigation was likely due to the possible involvement of army personnel. A similar allegation is also made in the unresolved abduction case of Kalpana Chakma, a leader of the Hill Women鈥檚 Federation. Kalpana鈥檚 brother Kalindi Kumar Chakma, a witness to the abduction and the plaintiff in the case, has consistently alleged that she was picked up by a group of armed men, including a junior army officer, and raised concern about the insincerity of law enforcers. The case was dismissed without ever properly interrogating the main accused. The main accused in the Munia murder case, the Bashundhara Group managing director, was also cleared of all charges without ever being interrogated. It is disappointing that many who have for long demanded justice for these victims are now members of the interim government鈥檚 council of advisers, yet they have failed to ensure thorough and fair investigations.
The continued abuse of the legal system in the changed political context suggests that the system of impunity that the interim government promised to reform has not been able to deliver. The interim government must treat these cases not as relics of the past but as urgent tests of reforms. Until the families of Sagar and Runi, Tonu, Taqi, Munia and Kalpana see justice, the issue of legal reform will remain rhetoric.
