Arya News - DNA matching to follow before handover or reburial.
DHAKA – For the past year and a half, 60-year-old Rasheda Begum visited the Rayerbazar graveyard every Thursday. As she stood near the rows of unnamed graves, she prayed for the souls of the 114 unidentified victims of the July uprising.
One of those graves, she believes, holds the body of her son.
Yesterday, Rasheda returned with a flicker of hope that her son’s grave might finally be found, as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) began the exhumation of the 114 bodies to collect DNA samples for identification.
CID officials, their forensic team, and specialists from the Dhaka Medical College forensic unit reached the graveyard around 9:00am to oversee the exhumation work, as family members of missing victims watched silently.
Argentine forensic anthropologist Luis Fondibrider was also present during the process, and a temporary forensic lab was set up on the grounds.
Amid the crowd of hopeful victim families, Rasheda was seen clinging to a photo of her son Sohel Rana, 35.
“My son Sohel went to Shyampur on July 18 last year to join the protests. He never came back. After 34 days, I visited Dhaka Medical College Hospital and learned that he had been buried here [Rayerbazar] as an unidentified body,” she told this correspondent as tears streamed down her face.
“Today [yesterday], the CID is exhuming the bodies for DNA testing. I hope my son’s grave will finally be identified.”
Standing next to Rasheda was 19-year-old Raiyan Hossain, silently weeping, but with the hope to find his father Rafiqul Islam’s body. “My father left our Gopibagh residence for Isha prayers around 8:00pm on July 19. He said he would be back soon….”
Rafiqul, owner of a computer training centre, never returned.
“Since that day, we searched for him everywhere, including the Dhaka Medical College morgue. We couldn’t find him anywhere… We later learned that several unidentified bodies had been buried in Rayerbazar.
“Now that CID has begun exhuming the bodies for DNA identification, we came here with the hope that at least we could finally know if he was buried here,” Raiyan said.
Speaking to this correspondent later in the afternoon, Sohel’s younger brother, Alvi Nabil Hossain, said, “After 1:00pm, a CID team took us to their headquarters in Malibagh and collected blood samples from my mother and father for DNA matching to help find my brother. Like us, family members of several of the missing victims were taken there for samples.”
CID officials said the identification will take time.
CID Chief Md Sibgat Ullah, also an additional inspector general of police, told reporters that the entire process is being carried out following international protocol. “After exhumation is completed, DNA tests will be conducted. Once identified, if the families wish, the bodies will be handed over to them for burial. Otherwise, they’ll be reburied here [Rayerbazar] with proper religious rites.”
He also noted that forensic expert Luis Fondibrider, who has conducted similar operations in 65 countries over the past 40 years, is supervising the work.
“All steps, from exhumation to reburial, will be carried out in phases. Initially, 114 graves have been identified, though the final number may vary. After exhumation, post-mortem examinations and tissue sampling will be done, DNA profiles prepared, and identities confirmed before reburial.”
Sibgat added, “So far, 10 relatives have applied to provide their DNA samples. Others may contact CID, and their DNA samples will also be collected.”
According to sources, two bodies were exhumed for DNA testing yesterday.
Since the burial of over 100 July uprising victims, the Rayerbazar graveyard has been enclosed with marble and tiles by the city corporation.
During a visit to the graveyard on August 2, the Home Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury announced the government’s initiative to identify the victims who had been marked unidentified.