Mozammel Hossain Kishor has demanded that the investigation of Rifat Sharif murder be held under the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI).
Mozammel, father of Ayesha Siddika Minni who has been accused in the murder case of her husband Rifat Sharif, made the request to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Home Ministry and IGP at a media call in Barguna on Wednesday (Jul 24).
“A group of politically influential people are trying to derail the investigation process and make my daughter (Minni) a scapegoat," said Mozammel Hossain Kishor.
“I no longer have trust in Barguna police,” said Mozammel.
Minni’s father said: “We had to take our daughter to Dhaka for treatment earlier (before Rifat’s murder). She is not in a good health.”
He said: “My daughter has become mentally disturbed due to police torture. She is in desperate need for treatment.”
On Jul 16, police arrested Minni after taking her in for questioning about the broad daylight killing of her husband Rifat Sharif, to which she was the key witness. The court placed her on a five-day remand the following day.
On Jul 19, she confessed to her involved in the murder.
A group of assailants stabbed Rifat Sharif to death in front of his wife Ayesha Siddiqa Minni outside Barguna Government College on the morning of Jun 26.
A video of the attack later went viral on the internet, which sparked outrage throughout the country. Two men were seen hacking Rifat with sharp weapons as Minni desperately tried to save him.
Rifat was taken to Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.
In the same day, the victim’s father, Dulal Sharif, filed a case against 12 people, including prime suspects Sabbir Ahmed Nayan alias Nayan Bond and Rifat Farazi.