Ashulia garment worker dies after collapsing at work; CCTV shows confrontation
Agami Apparels suspends line supervisor after reviewing footage; police send worker’s body for autopsy as her husband seeks justice.
A 26-year-old garment worker died after collapsing on the factory floor in Ashulia yesterday (16 October), following a confrontation with a man captured on CCTV footage at her workplace.
Mishu Akter, a sewing operator at Agami Apparels Ltd, an export-oriented factory owned by Deco Group, collapsed at around 5:01pm, according to footage obtained by this correspondent.
The 4-minute-30-second footage shows Mishu working at her sewing machine alongside other workers when a man approaches her. Another man then rushes towards her and begins striking her sewing machine.
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The man makes several aggressive gestures before snatching the fabric Mishu is working on and throwing it to the floor. During the confrontation, Mishu falls to the ground.
The footage then shows the man stepping back and standing nearby. A female worker approaches to help Mishu, and several others join her. The man throws an object away from near Mishu's head before leaving the area.
Workers continue trying to assist Mishu, and someone returns a few minutes later with a stretcher. She is then carried off the factory floor.
The footage does not establish what caused Mishu to collapse or whether the man's behaviour contributed to her death.
'I want justice'
Mishu was from Dimla upazila in Nilphamari. She lived with her husband, Sazzad Hossain, and their two sons in a rented house in the Kathgara Nayapara area of Ashulia.
Sazzad said Mishu had returned home for lunch on 16 October before going back to work.
"She was not ill. If she had told me she was unwell, I would not have let her go to work," he said.
He said he received news of the incident around 5:12pm and rushed to the factory. Mishu was later taken to Ashulia Women and Children Hospital, where doctors declared her dead.
"What the footage shows is a form of abuse. Apart from physically assaulting her, the person did everything he could to mistreat her," Sazzad said.
"I want justice," he added.
Sazzad said he was currently unemployed and had been planning to open a mobile phone servicing shop.
Supervisor temporarily suspended
Salauddin, general manager for administration, human resources and compliance at Deco Group, said the company had reviewed the CCTV footage, issued a show-cause notice to the line supervisor and temporarily suspended him.
The company would take further disciplinary action in line with its procedures, he said.
He added that the company was in regular contact with Mishu's family and had taken steps to settle her outstanding dues as soon as possible.
Salauddin said Mishu's colleagues had told the company that she was worried about her husband and children. He suggested that her husband's unemployment might have contributed to her concerns.
He also said he had heard that a case over the death was being processed and that the company had assured the family of assistance on all reasonable matters.
Harun-or-Rashid, senior manager of Ashulia Women and Children Hospital, said a female worker from Agami Apparels was brought to the hospital at around 6pm on 16 October.
She was brought in dead, he said.
Ashulia Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Tarikul Islam said police recovered Mishu's body from the hospital and sent it to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in Dhaka for an autopsy last night.
He added that Mishu's husband had filed a written complaint and further legal proceedings were under way.
