Sohag’s murder exposes a society numbed by fear and brutality
It was a murder that stunned the nation, not only for its barbarity, but for what it revealed about the society we have become. Lal Chand alias Sohag, a 39-year-old scrap trader in Old Dhaka, was brutally killed in broad daylight, with dozens of people watching. Not one person stepped forward to save him.
Dragged from his shop, beaten with rods and concrete blocks, Sohag's last moments were witnessed by bystanders who froze in fear. Some filmed it. But no one intervened. His wife Lucky Akter's wail pierced the conscience of a shaken country, "They've orphaned our children. I want them all to hang."
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. This was a public execution. The street was the stage, the silence of the crowd the backdrop.
According to the police and family, Sohag was being pressured for extortion money and harassed by local political thugs allegedly linked to Jubo Dal. His refusal to pay extortion money, and his success in business, reportedly made him a target. On Wednesday, they came to collect their price, in blood not in money.
The killers didn't flinch. Neither did the crowd.
That such savagery can unfold in full view of the public, and that no one dares intervene, shows something far more frightening than any act of violence. It reveals a society paralysed by fear, where brutality is becoming normalised, and moral courage is in retreat.
University students erupted in protests across the country including at Dhaka University, BUET, Jagannath University, and beyond. But outside the campuses, many ordinary citizens are left grappling with a chilling truth: our streets no longer belong to the people, but to those who wield violence with impunity.
In a city of millions, Sohag died alone. His blood stains much more than a street in old Dhaka. And this is not just about crime. It is about the deafening silence of our collective complicity.
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