Bangladesh police seek 13-year-old's killers

The killing of Samiul Alam Rajon, a 13-year-old part time vegetable seller in the northeastern city of Sylhet, Bangladesh, and the posting of the video, have prompted protests both in Sylhet and on social media.

On Monday hundreds of people formed a human chain outside Samiul's home to protest his killing. Comments on social media focused on the prevalence of violence in Bangladesh.

On July 8, a group of six attackers accused Samiul of stealing a rickshaw van, tied him to a stake and then beat him to death. They filmed the assault and the 28-minute video was then posted online at the weekend. In the film Samiul is seen begging for water as he lays dying.

Police said there were scores of injuries all over Samiul's body and that he died due to internal bleeding.

"Samiul Alam Rajon died on July 8 as a result of merciless beating," local police chief Alamgir Hossain told the AFP news agency. "His body had at least 64 injuries including in the head."

In the video, Samiul can be heard screaming in pain, crying: "Please don't beat me like this, I will die."

When the attackers tell him to walk away and Samiul tries to get to his feet, one of the attackers shouts: "His bones are OK. Beat him some more."

They can be heard talking about posting the video on Facebook "so everyone can see the fate of a thief."

Samiul's mother Lubna Aktar told reporters: "My son is not a thief. Everyone knows it. I want justice for my child's murder."

The chief suspect was arrested when he was seen trying to leave Samiul's body in an isolated area of the city. He was remanded in custody for five days on Monday after police pressed murder charges.

Another suspect was arrested in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where he went a day after the murder. "We'll now bring him back to Bangladesh," Khaleda Begum, a spokeswoman for the Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry, told AFP.

Four other suspects are being sought.

jm/cmk (dpa, AFP)