On the day Sheikh Hasina’s government was reportedly overthrown, 12-year-old madrasa student Zobaid Ahmed left his home in Uttara, Dhaka, saying he was going out to play. Since then, the family has not seen him again. Zobaid lived with his family in Sector 8 of Uttara, although their ancestral home is in Nandail, Mymensingh.
His mother, Rabeya Khatun, has been tirelessly searching for her son, visiting several hospitals, including Dhaka Medical College. Overwhelmed with grief, Rabeya expressed her agony over the phone, pleading, “Please return my son to me. I cannot live without him. I want nothing else in life but to have my son back in my arms. Why did Allah take my only child?”
Rabeya explained that after eating breakfast together on the morning of August 5, she took a nap. Around 11 AM, Zobaid told his elderly grandmother that he was going to play in a nearby field and left the house. That was the last time anyone saw him. Since then, Rabeya has searched for him in various hospitals, including Dhaka Medical College, Suhrawardy Medical College, and Kurmitola Hospital, but to no avail.
Rabeya also mentioned that a day before a planned visit to Ganabhaban, Zobaid had been to the scene of a clash in Uttara. Although they managed to bring him home that evening, they had warned him not to get involved in such activities. She fears that on August 5, her son might have gone to participate in a protest. Desperate for answers, she said, “I just want to find my son.”
Zobaid, who had memorized 14 parts of the Quran, dreamed of becoming a pilot. “I enrolled him in a madrasa, but he wanted to study in a regular school,” Rabeya recalled. “He used to tell me, ‘I want to go to school and university and become someone great, like a pilot. I can’t do that if I stay in the madrasa.’ I promised to fulfill all his dreams. Please bring him back to me.”
Zobaid’s uncle, Faisal Ahmed, a student of microbiology at Jahangirnagar University, shared that his nephew left home on August 5 and never returned. Local residents have speculated that a boy resembling Zobaid might have been shot in the head that day. Despite searching various morgues in Dhaka, the family has found no trace of him. When he left home, Zobaid was wearing a white t-shirt and black pants.
The family continues to hope for Zobaid’s safe return, as they struggle with the uncertainty and pain of not knowing what happened to their beloved son.
