Dipu Sikder, special correspondent of the outlet Alap, has received death threats after publishing an investigative report on the horrific sexual abuse and rape of women’s bodies kept in the morgue of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College in the capital. Following the threats, the journalist filed a general diary (GD) at Mirpur police station in the capital on Wednesday morning, 28 October.
In the GD, Dipu Sikder states clearly that he has been repeatedly intimidated and threatened ever since he gathered information on the atrocities inside the morgue and took the accused people’s statements as part of his professional duty. The GD alleges that an organised ring and a powerful syndicate at the morgue, rather than an isolated individual, are directly behind the threats.
Dipu Sikder names Nure Alam Shanto, a dismissed former morgue assistant, as the main source of the threats. According to the GD, Shanto began calling and threatening him soon after the report was published, and at one point sent a message to his phone threatening to “see him in court”.
The digital investigative report, titled “Even dead women are being raped: where is the security?”, was published on 18 October on Alap’s main website and official social media handles. It brought to public attention information and evidence of extreme sexual abuse of women’s bodies in the morgue of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital.
To ensure the report’s objectivity, formal statements were taken from two people directly accused: Jatan Lal, former in-charge of the Suhrawardy Medical College morgue, and Nure Alam Shanto, the dismissed morgue assistant. But intimidation targeting the journalist began as soon as the report came out.
The Crime Reporters Association of Bangladesh (CRAB) has expressed deep concern over the threats made to Dipu Sikder for doing his job. In a formal statement, it said investigative journalism is a unique tool for protecting the public interest, uncovering hidden wrongdoing and establishing accountability, and that threats or harassment of any journalist for doing their job are extremely dangerous for free and independent journalism.
CRAB demanded an impartial investigation into the complaint raised by its member Dipu Sikder and that those responsible be brought to justice immediately. The statement also said that ensuring the complainant journalist’s personal safety is the responsibility of the relevant state authorities.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report