An independent inquiry committee, involving experts beyond members of law enforcement agencies, is a must to investigate deaths in custody to ensure justice, Rights body Ain o Salish Kendra said yesterday.
It also expressed grave concern over the death of Yasmin Begum in the custody of Gazipur detectives, hours after she was picked up from her home.
The rights organisation called for ensuring transparency and accountability in the activities of the law enforcement agencies.
"ASK firmly believes that there is no alternative to eradicating the prevailing culture of impunity," it said in a press statement.
The organisation mentioned that none of the cases filed under Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013 has been completed yet.
Yasmin's 17-year-old son Yasin Arafat Jisan said about 4-5 men in plainclothes, who introduced themselves as DB officers, showed up at their home in Bhawal on Tuesday evening and said they were looking for his father Abdul Hai over allegations of drug dealing against him.
When he and his mother told the men that Abdul was not at home, they started beating her up and took her in custody, he said.
Around 11:00pm on Wednesday, Jisan received a phone call from someone who told him that his mother had fallen ill and had been taken to Gazipur Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital. Going there around 1:00am on Wednesday, he saw that his mother had died.
There were injury marks on her legs, arms and other parts of the body, Jisan said.
A three-member committee led by Md Azad Mia, additional commissioner of police in Gazipur, was formed on Wednesday to investigate the incident. The committee was asked to submit the probe report in seven working days.
