The Bangla Department of Cumilla University (CoU) organised a Quran recitation and prayer programme seeking divine mercy for Ishayat Shahriar Aparatim, the only son of the university’s Bangla Department Associate Professor Dr Nahida Begum.

The programme was held at the university’s central mosque after Zuhr prayers on Thursday, September 24.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr M M Shariful Karim, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Amjad Hossain Sarker, Treasurer Professor Dr Mohammad Belal Uddin, Arts Faculty Dean Dr Shamsuzzaman Milky, Bangla Department Chairman Dr Mohammad Golam Mawla and students from different departments attended the programme.

The department arranged a complete Quran recitation, milad and special prayers. Teachers, students, officers, employees and other members of the university community joined the programme.

Bangla Department Chairman Dr Mohammad Golam Mawla said Aparatim was not only Nahida Begum’s son but also a child of the department and the university family, adding that his death had left them deeply saddened.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Amjad Hossain Sarker said that at this moment they could do little except pray for Aparatim and seek Allah’s mercy for him.

Aparatim had gone missing after leaving a rented home in the Gandhamati area of Kotbari, Cumilla, last Friday afternoon. His body was recovered the following day from a secluded forest in the Lalmai hills at Sananda village under Bijoypur Union of Sadar South upazila. He was a seventh-grade student at Cumilla Border Guard Public School.

Police said Saiful Islam Tuhin, 19, and two juveniles aged 15 and 16 were arrested on allegations of direct involvement in the killing, while Md Siam, 19, was arrested on suspicion of involvement. According to police, the three other than Siam gave confessional statements before a Cumilla court.