Mother killed in July Uprising, daughter still waits for security

Subaiya never had the chance to learn her mother's face.

She is now two years, two months and 17 days old. By the time she was old enough to smile back at familiar faces, the woman who gave birth to her had already been gone for months. 

Today, the toddler instinctively reaches for her maternal aunt, calling her "mother," unaware that the person she was meant to know by that name will never return.

For her grandmother, every laugh the child lets out is accompanied by another question that has no easy answer: What will become of this little girl after those who have kept her alive are no longer here?

Two years after 19-year-old Sumaiya Akter was killed during Bangladesh's July 2024 uprising, her family says justice remains incomplete. Equally unresolved, they say, is the future of the infant she left behind.

On the afternoon of July 20, 2024, as anti-government demonstrations swept across the country, Sumaiya stood on the balcony of her family's home in the Painadi New Mohalla neighborhood of Siddhirganj, Narayanganj. Like many residents that day, she looked skyward as helicopters circled overhead.

Moments later, a bullet struck the left side of her head.

She was rushed to a nearby private hospital, where doctors declared her dead on arrival.

Her daughter Subaiya was only two and a half months old.

Sumaiya herself had not yet fully recovered from the cesarean section through which she had given birth. She had returned to her mother's house after the delivery to recuperate and care for the newborn. The plan was simple: stay for a few weeks, regain her strength, then return to her husband's home in Cumilla.

She never made that journey.

Today, Subaiya is being raised by her maternal aunt, Jannat, whom she believes is her mother. Family members say the child's father has not consistently assumed responsibility for her upbringing, leaving the burden almost entirely on her maternal grandmother's household.

That burden weighs heavily on Asma Begum, Sumaiya's mother, Subaiya’s grandmother.

The family survives on the modest earnings of her two sons—one employed at a carton factory, the other at a garment factory. Her youngest son is still studying at a madrasa, while another suffers from epilepsy. 

Stretching those limited incomes to cover household expenses, medical bills and the growing needs of a young child has become an increasingly difficult balancing act.

Asma says grief has reshaped every part of her life.

She lost her husband during the COVID-19 pandemic. A few years later, she buried her daughter. The emotional toll, she says, often leaves her physically ill. Yet it is not her own future that keeps her awake at night.

It is Subaiya's.

"We are somehow managing to survive," Asma said. "But what will happen to this motherless child after I die? I appeal to the government to ensure her education, healthcare and future."

The family is also waiting for accountability.

Sumaiya's mother and sister say they continue to seek a swift and impartial trial, arguing that although two years have passed, justice has yet to arrive. They want those responsible identified, prosecuted and punished.

Their plea extends beyond the courtroom.

"A child's life should not begin with losing her mother," said Akram Hossain, a neighbor. "The state's responsibility is not only to punish those responsible for the killing but also to ensure that this child grows up with dignity and security."

According to relatives, Sumaiya was the daughter of the late Selim Matbar of Mehendiganj in Barishal. Before her pregnancy, she had been working, but later moved to her in-laws' home in Cumilla. 

On August 22, 2024, Sumaiya's brother-in-law filed a murder case with Siddhirganj Police Station, naming former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and six others while accusing another 200 to 300 unidentified people. 

Nearly four months after her death, on November 20, authorities exhumed Sumaiya's body from the Painadi Central Eidgah Cemetery for a court-ordered post-mortem examination.

The case remains before the courts. Meanwhile, time moves differently for Subaiya.

She is learning new words, discovering the world around her and taking small steps toward a future she cannot yet imagine. She has no memory of the woman who carried her, gave birth to her and held her for the first weeks of her life.

One day, someone will have to explain why every other child spoke of a mother who came home each evening, while hers never did.

For now, she simply calls her aunt "Ma," unaware that the emptiness left by her mother's death has become the defining absence in an entire family's life.

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