One-and-a-half-month-old finally out of Kashimpur jail hours after mother's bail

A one-and-a-half-month-old baby left Kashimpur Central Women’s Jail in his mother’s arms today.

Shilpi Begum, along with her son, was released around 11:50am, her lawyer Farzana Yeasmin Rakhi told The Daily Star.

Yesterday, police produced her before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court in Dhaka around 2:00pm in connection with an explosives case, seeking her detention in jail, according to court records.

Relatives gathered outside, while lawyer Farzana pleaded for bail, citing Shilpi’s recent childbirth and the needs of her infant.

Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Awlad Hossain Muhammad Zonaid rejected the petition and ordered her into jail custody, said a court staffer.

After hearing her bail being rejected, Shilpi, 37, a ward-level Jubo Mohila League leader, broke down in tears, still wearing a post-C-section support belt, a stark reminder of how recently she had given birth to the baby.

As little he was taken from her mother’s arms in the courtroom yesterday afternoon, the infant’s cries mingled with the mother’s sobs -- leaving those present visibly shaken.

Over five hours later, Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman granted her bail, but by then Shilpi had already been taken to the jail yesterday.

Earlier, on the court premises yesterday, Shilpi said she still felt pain from her C-section incision. “I cannot properly feed the baby. My baby will die. I have a problem with my hand; I cannot take care of the child. I will not take her with me,” she said.

Lawyer Farzana said the baby was born at Ad-din Hospital on March 4.

Shilpi was arrested from her residence on Railway Colony Station Road in Dhaka’s Tejgaon on Monday around 7:15pm, as she is a named accused in the case, according to the police forwarding report.

The case statement said Tahmid Mubin Ratul, a second-year student of the Institute of Modern Languages at Dhaka University and an activist of the anti-discrimination student movement, was shot while protesting in Chankharpul on July 16, 2024. His classmates took him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Later, on July 23, Shilpi allegedly instructed the accused, along with 120-130 unidentified individuals to attack Ratul’s residence with sharp weapons, pistols, and bombs, complainant Shahnur Khanam, Tahmid’s mother, alleged.

Furniture and electronics were vandalised, causing damage worth Tk 5 lakh, while items worth Tk 3 lakh were looted. A bomb was reportedly detonated on the road in front of the house.

Shilpi and others also beat Tahmid’s father, Sohel Rana, with intent to kill, she said.

Shahnur filed the case with Tejgaon Police Station under the Explosive Substances Act and the Penal Code on January 25 last year.