Shahinur Begum. Photo : Collected

By Mohsin Kabir

CUMILLA, May 29, 2025 (BSS) – “My mother didn’t die of natural causes—she was shot while trying to earn a living. No financial grant, however generous, can ever equal her worth,” said Jasmine, 28, daughter of Shahinur Begum, a fish vendor and mother of five, who was fatally shot by police gunfire during July mass uprising.

Shahinur Begum, 52, was injured on July 22, 2024, when police started indiscriminate firing on passersby and protesters near Kazla in the Jatrabari area. 

Severely wounded and left unattended for some time due to panic in the area, she was eventually taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital by local residents. 

Despite efforts to save her, she passed away on August 9 after more than two weeks in critical condition.

A native of Borosapmara (Mugarchar) village in Cumilla’s Meghna upazila, Shahinur had shifted to Dhaka over a decade ago, compelled by marital discord and worsening poverty.

Her husband, Md. Hafiz Bhuiyan, had effectively abandoned the family after taking a second wife, though the marriage was never officially dissolved. “We never got a single penny from our father after his second marriage,” said her eldest daughter, Hafeza Begum, 30.

“It was our mother who held the family together through endless struggle and sacrifice.”

Initially taking up work in other people’s homes, Shahinur eventually shifted to selling fish, an unusual but determined choice for a woman in her situation.

 Every morning she would go to Jatrabari’s wholesale fish market and return to Kazla Bazar to sell her stock in retail.

“She worked in rain and shine, fasting days and sickness, just so that we wouldn’t go hungry,” Hafeza recalled.

But on that fateful morning in July, her daily routine turned into tragedy. “As she reached Kazla, police started firing bullets at people in the area indiscriminately,” Hafeza said.

“My mother was one of at least half a dozen people hit. She collapsed on the ground, bleeding, but no one dared go near her because of the firing.”

It wasn’t until the police left the scene that local residents managed to place her on a van and transport her to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. 

Witnesses remember the road being stained with trails of her blood. “She didn’t receive immediate treatment.

 It took nearly two hours before doctors began attending to her,” claimed her daughter.

Shahinur’s condition worsened despite medical attention, and she succumbed to her injuries on August 9.

Now, her children live in the same two-room slum dwelling in Shonir Akhra’s Govindapur area where she had raised them. 

The rooms are barely sufficient for a family of their size, the walls worn and the air dense with humidity and grief.

“My mother struggled alone to bring us up. She managed everything, from school fees to meals, by selling fish in the street,” said Hafeza. “We eventually began helping her, but after she passed away, everything has become harder.”

Among her five children, three daughters—Hafeza, Jasmine, and Taslima—are now married, although none of their husbands are financially well-off.

Jasmine and her younger brother Robiul, 18, now sell rice cakes at the Rayerbagh bus stand, while Shariful Islam, the eldest son at 23, recently migrated to Saudi Arabia—a move their mother had worked hard to make possible before her death.

“She dreamt of sending Shariful abroad so that we could live a better life,” said Hafeza, her voice heavy with emotion. “The arrangements were almost done when the tragedy struck. 

It breaks our hearts that she didn’t get to see him leave, or to know that he made it.”

While the family continues to endure economic hardship, they also live with unanswered questions and a profound sense of injustice.

“We heard a local BNP leader filed a murder case at Jatrabari Police Station regarding my mother’s death,” said Hafeza. “But we don’t know who the accused are or whether the investigation has moved forward.”

Local leaders from BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami visited the family, expressing condolences and joining the funeral prayers, which were attended by a large number of villagers from all walks of life.

“We have always been in touch with Shahinur Begum’s family and will stand by them in the future as well,” said Ramiz Londoni, former BNP president of Meghna upazila.