Teen injured by bigots loses battle to survive after 3 months

Shahriar Rakeen, a 16-year-old member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, succumbed to his injuries on Friday, November 8, after over three months of intensive treatment in a Dhaka hospital.

Shahriar had been critically injured in a brutal attack on August 5, 2024, when religious extremists launched a coordinated assault on Ahmadiyya communities across Bangladesh immediate after a shift in government, said a press release.

Shahriar was laid to rest in Panchagarh on Saturday after two funeral prayers in Dhaka and Pachagarh.

The attack on Shahriar’s community in Ahmadnagar, Panchagarh, was one of several that day, with extremists targeting an Ahmadiyya mosque and over a hundred homes and structures. 

In the absence of law enforcement, 22 individuals were injured in the incident. Shahriar, who suffered a severe head injury from a lethal weapon, was initially treated at Panchagarh Government Hospital before being transferred to Rangpur Medical College Hospital. Following his deteriorating condition, he was moved to Dhaka for specialised care.

Despite prolonged medical attention at Dhaka’s Neuro Science Hospital, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, and LabAid Hospital, Shahriar passed away at 10:30am Thursday.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at expressed profound grief over Shahriar’s loss, condemning the barbaric sectarian violence and calling for justice in the wake of this tragic incident.