Though 26 months have elapsed since the murder of Comilla Victoria College (CVC) student Sohagi Jahan Tonu, the investigation into the gruesome killing continues to languish without any significant progress.
Family members and locals expressed their anger and frustration as the police have even failed to name a single suspect, let alone make any arrests.
Meanwhile, an announcement by Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan earlier this month that "the mystery behind Tonu murder case will be revealed soon" seems to have come to nothing.
The minister had made the announcement while talking to reporters after a program at the Daffodil University campus on May 5.
Tonu, a second-year history student at CVC and active member of Victoria College Theatre, also worked part-time as a private tutor. She was found dead at Cumilla Mainamati Cantonment on March 20, 2016.
Her murder sparked a huge public outcry, and people from home and abroad demanded justice.
Doctors at the forensic department of Cumilla Medical College Hospital conducted two autopsies on her body but their reports failed to mention any clear cause of death.
In May 2016, the CID - which was handed the case the previous month - revealed that bodily fluids (semen) of three individuals had been found on Tonu's clothes - but the public has been kept in the dark regarding any tests the agency might have done to match the DNA samples found in the clothing with any suspect.
CID officials last conducted a daylong interrogation of Tonu's father Yaar Hossain, mother Anwara Begum, cousin Laizu, and brother Mizan at the CID office in Dhaka on November 22, 2017. According to the family it was just rehashing old information, and they learned nothing new.
Some weeks prior to that, on October 25-27, CID apparently interrogated three individuals "suspected by Tonu's mother" inside the Dhaka Cantonment. CID refused however to reveal their names, indicating they may have included active duty army officers stationed at the Cumilla Cantonment.
Tonu's family, particularly her mother, have repeatedly demanded that two army officers of Cumilla Cantonment be questioned in the matter.
Akbar Masum, general secretary of Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik (Sujan) Cumilla unit, said: "A girl was killed and after 26 months, her killers are yet to be identified. Imagine what kind of society we are living in."
The case has been lying with the CID for too long without substantial progress, said Gonojagoron Mancha Cumilla unit organiser Khairul Alam Raihan.
Tonu's brother Anwar Hossain said: "My sister was killed when she went to Sergeant Zahid's house for tuition [she taught Zahid's children]. So, Zahid and his wife should be interrogated over the murder."
"If needed we will meet with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to request her to arrest the killers," he further said.
Investigation officer of the case senior police superintendent of CID Jalal Uddin Ahmed said they will keep interrogating people, which may take another two or three months.
"We're working to identify the killers of Tonu," he said.
