The law and order situation deteriorated in the country immediately right after the coup. Many dare to take the law into their own hands from this opportunity. Many of them target individuals and vent their anger. The news of death in public thrashing comes from the media in many parts of the country. The news of death in public beatings is not new in this country. The year 2024 is leaving with the terrible scars of all such extrajudicial killings.
According to the Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), 114 cases of lynching occurred in the 11 months from January to November in 2024. Among them, at least 82 people were killed in just four months from August to November. Among them, 21 people were killed in August, 28 in September, 19 in October, and 14 in November. A total of 32 people were killed in the previous seven months from January to July.
Crime analysts said that such killings have been happening for a long time. However, criminals are more involved in such incidents after July due to the conditions of the country.
AIG (Media) of the police headquarters, Enamul Haque Sagar, told the Khaborer Kagoj in this context that a case has been filed in every case of 'mob justice' or extrajudicial killings. A significant number of accused have been arrested in these cases. The police are investigating every incident with special importance.
"All killings are extrajudicial killings, without due process, be it by law enforcement agencies or mobbing of common people. Many killings are happening in the name of mob justice. These are also extrajudicial killings. Such mob justice is not acceptable in a democratic state. In any way, the government has to ensure the safety of people's lives and property," Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Manzil Morsed told the Khaborer Kagoj in this regard.
Human rights activist Noor Khan Liton played a very vocal role against such killings in the past. "They are not acceptable in any way. I will not make any further comments for now," he told the Khaborer Kagoj on December 29.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk told the media that "mob justice" is not acceptable at the end of his two-day visit in a press conference at a hotel in Dhaka on October 31. "The UN does not support impunity for any type of killing. Every crime must be investigated. The killings before and after August 5 must be prosecuted, as well as all kinds of human rights violations," he added.
Here are some of the most talked-about murders of 2024. A young man was beaten to death in the Panchlaish police station of Chattogram city on August 13. Later, a video about this went viral on social media. A young man named Md. Mamun was beaten to death in Dighinala of Khagrachari on September 18 on suspicion of being a thief.
Earlier, former Chhatra League leader Abdullah Al Masud, who was disabled, was killed in a 'massacre' in Rajshahi on September 8.
A young man named Tofazzal Hossain was arrested on suspicion of being a thief and beaten several times at Fazlul Haque Muslim Hall in Dhaka University on the night of September 18. He was also fed rice in the canteen of the hall at night. Then he was beaten again. Tofazzal died at one stage. Former Chhatra League leader Shamim Mollah was beaten to death at Jahangirnagar University (JAB) on the same date.
