Himu's Window

The cause of Sultana Jasmine's death was brain haemorrhage due to excessive stress and a sudden rise in blood pressure, forensic experts of Rajshahi Medical College said yesterday. "As her blood pressure shot up due to stress, two blood vessels inside her brain swelled up and ruptured, causing internal bleeding," Kafil Uddin, associate professor and head of RMC's forensic medicine department, said while explaining the outcome of the autopsy to reporters who went to the hospital for updates. "Ultimately, her body went into a shock," he said, adding that shock is a medical condition when the brain stops receiving oxygen and other nutrients. Meanwhile, Sultana's maternal uncle Nazmul Haque Montu held the Rab members, who kept her in custody till her burial, responsible for the death. "While in their custody, they obviously did something that caused her death," he told The Daily Star yesterday. Sultana, 41, an office assistant of Naogaon's Cha...

No case has been filed yet for the death of Sultana Jasmine, which may delay justice for the victim's family, said a group of eminent citizens in Rajshahi yesterday. Sultana Jasmine was detained in a case filed under the Digital Security Act and had been in Rab custody until her death on March 27. At a press conference in the office of Rajshahi Union of Journalists around noon, the three-member group demanded legal action against the plaintiff of the DSA case filed against Sultana and the quick filing of a case over her death. "If no case is filed for her death, justice will remain elusive for her family." Led by prominent writer Mahbub Siddiki, also president of Heritage Rajshahi, a history-based research organisation, a three-member group of citizens visited Naogaon, where Sultana was from, on Friday. Other members were Prof Iftikharul Alam Mas-ud, a teacher of the Arabic language department in Rajshahi University, and Hasnat Beg, a lawyer and convenor of Rastra Sangsk...

Sultana Jasmine, 41, who died in Rab custody on March 24, had suffered the trauma of domestic violence by her husband in her early life. But refusing to give in, she chose to fight back for building a new life of dignity for herself and her only son. While raising her son as a single mother, she also continued her study and acquired her master's degree a year ago. The Daily Star learnt about Sultana's struggles and dreams during a two-day visit to Naogaon town talking to Sultana's maternal uncle Nazmul Haque Montu, her house owner Delwar Hossain Dulal and her colleagues. "She [Sultana] was close to fulfilling all her life's plans," Montu said. Her dreams were cut short when she died in the Rab custody in Rajshahi, two days after her detention on her way to work. Her death triggered widespread criticisms from rights groups and the High Court questioning Rab's authority to detain her without a case against her. Fifth among six sisters and a brother, Sultana...