Six years into the murder of college student Sohagi Jahan Tonu police probe into the case has seen little progress with dejected family members losing hope for getting any justice.

Tonu, 19, a second-year history student of Cumilla Victoria College and a member of Victoria College Theatre, was found dead at Cumilla Mainamati Cantonment on March 20, 2016 after she went out for private tuition.

Her murder sparked a huge public outcry amid growing demand for identifying the killers and put them on trial.

Also read: One held over murder of schoolgirl ‘after rape’ in Magura

Forensic doctors at Cumilla Medical College Hospital conducted two autopsies on her body but their reports did not mention any clear cause of her death.

In May, 2016, CID told media that semen of three men were found in DNA test but the officials concerned declined to make any comment over further development.

Banaj Kumar Majumdar, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), said “CID has done a lot as semen was found after testing DNA we will increase the number of suspected people and we are working focusing on the matter.”

Tonu’s mother Anwara Begum said “No one has come here and asked about Tonu. We are poor and we do not expect any judgment. We just pray to Allah.”

However, a doa mahfil was arranged at the local mosque marking the 6th death anniversary of Tonu and cooked food was distributed among the orphan children.

A disappointed Yaar Hossain, father of Tonu, said “Poor people are always deprived of justice.”

After the recovery of Tonu’s body, police suspected that she had been raped before the murder.

Tonu was buried at a grave at Mirzapur village in Muradnagar upazila on 21 March.

Also read: 9 to die in Naogaon for triple murder

On March 29, 2016, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) started investigation on the killing of the girl.

From March 25-27, 2017, the CID team interrogated Dhaka cantonment.

In 2020, the case was shifted to PBI. But no visible progress has been made yet.