Human chain formed in front of The Daily Star demanding punishment for executive editor

A human chain was formed in front of The Daily Star building in the capital today (15 February) to protest the death of 15-year-old domestic worker Preeti Urang.

The protestors, holding banners of an organisation named Shocheton Nagorik Somaj (Conscious Citizens' Society), staged the demonstration around 12:30pm and left the place within a short time.

On 6 February, the house help, Preeti Urang, 15, fell from the ninth floor and sustained heavy injury.

After being taken to a nearby hospital, the on-duty doctor declared her dead. 

The next day, her father, Lokesh Urang, filed a case with Mohammadpur police station, naming journalist Syed Ashfaqul Haque and his wife, Tania Khondoker.

Following the filing of the case, Executive Editor of The Daily Star Syed Ashfaqul Haque and his wife Tania Khondoker were arrested on 7 February.

Later on 13 February, a Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate court granted four-day remand for both the accused.

In the case statement, Lukesh Urang said his daughter had been sent to Dhaka two years ago to work as a maid, aiming to alleviate their family's financial struggles. Throughout this period, Preeti never visited her family, with Lukesh relying on occasional phone calls to the house owner to stay in touch.

Lukesh Urang, as the plaintiff, also said Preeti fell from the 8th floor of apartment No. 2/7 in Mohammadpur's Shahjahan Road area around 8am on Tuesday due to the absence of safety bars on the window of the flat's drawing space. He highlighted that a similar incident occurred last year on 4 August, where another housekeeper sustained severe injuries from falling out of the same window.

Lukesh attributed these repeated accidents to the negligence and carelessness of the house owner and occupants, emphasising the lack of protective barriers on the windows as the root cause.