Abu Sayed, a student of English at the Rangpur’s Begum Rokeya University, stood his ground. As the police closed in, he spread his arms wide open, in a moment of defiance. In a seemingly intentional and unjustifiable attack, the police fired directly at his chest. At least two police officers discharged 12-gauge shotguns directly towards him from across the street – a distance of merely 15 meters. Sayed clutched his chest on impact as officers fired at least two more times using birdshot, ammunition that is designed for hunting which is extremely dangerous, inherently inaccurate and thus unlawful for use in the policing of protests.
Sayed posed no apparent physical threat to the police. Sayed’s death certificate states he was ‘brought dead’ to the hospital.
He was just 25 years old.
The video of Sayed’s brutal killing sparked outrage and became a symbol of the violence directed at protesters in Bangladesh since 15 July 2024.