Wife fears for freed bakery attack suspect
A BRITISH-BANGLADESHI businessman accused of being involved in the 2016 terrorist attack on a bakery in Dhaka has been freed, but his wife has told of her fears for his health after two years in detention.
Hasnat Karim had planned an evening of celebration for his daughter’s 13th birthday at the popular upmarket Holey Artisan Bakery Café in Bangladesh’s capital.
Instead, July 1 2016 turned into a night of terror for the family of four after the restaurant was stormed by jihadist gunmen.
Held hostage for 12 hours and witness to the horrific killing of 24 people, Mr Karim’s wife and two children were traumatised further by his arrest and incarceration for suspected involvement in the attack. Mr Karim’s ordeal finally ended on Thursday after he was released without charge. “During our investigation, we did not find any involvement [of Mr Karim] in this attack directly or indirectly, so he was acquitted,” said Monirul Islam, the head of Bangladeshi police’s counter-terrorism and transnational crime unit.
In her first interview since her husband’s release, Sharmina Parveen described both her relief and the heavy toll the ordeal had taken on Mr Karim’s health and their family life.
“I am happy that my husband has returned home. But those two years have been lost,” she told The Daily Telegraph.
“After he was detained, our life at home fell into complete disarray. Our two children missed their father very much,” she said. She constantly feared for his health as Mr Karim, in his late 40s, has had several stents in his heart.
“I sometimes worried that because of severe stress and anxiety, he could suffer a fatal heart attack,” she said.
“He has lost weight after being in jail. Being in jail for two years, without any charge, certainly pushed him into a trauma,” she said.
Amnesty International UK said: “The end of his suffering is a cause for celebration [but] his detention was inhumane and illegal.”