Fifteen-year-old Preeti Urang, daughter of a tea worker from Moulvibazar, died on February 6, 2024, after falling from the eighth floor of her employers’ flat in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur. Her father filed a case accusing Syed Ashfaqul Haque, former Daily Star executive editor, and his wife, Tania Khondoker, of torture that drove her to her death.
Both were arrested and later released, Tania on interim bail, Ashfaqul on “permanent bail” pending trial. Since then, there have been no visible updates. Court officials state that the case remains under investigation, pending the final report before any trial can commence.
This was not the first such allegation. In August 2023, another domestic worker, Ferdousi, reportedly jumped from the same balcony, surviving with permanent injuries. That case was reportedly resolved with an out-of-court settlement.
After Preeti’s death, The Daily Star initially said it would wait for “completion of the judicial process.” Rights groups questioned why the paper had allowed Ashfaqul to continue working even after earlier allegations surfaced.
In a recent Facebook post, Ashfaqul claimed his dismissal was politically motivated and that Preeti’s death was an accident. But activists say this framing ignores a broader pattern of abuse faced by domestic workers, especially minors from indigenous or poor families, whose cases rarely reach conviction.
Eighteen months on: no report, no trial, no justice.
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