A colleague of the Jahangirnagar University teacher Jannatul Ferdous, who died Friday morning while on ballot-counting duty following the JU Central Student Union (JUCSU) polls, said her death was caused by the mismanagement of the university's election commission.
Jannatul was serving as a polling officer for the JUCSU and Preetilata Hall Union elections. She was an assistant professor in the Fine Arts Department of Jahangirnagar University.
Around 8:30 am, after reaching the third floor of the building housing the election commission, Jannatul suddenly lost consciousness in the corridor in front of her colleagues.
She was rushed to Enam Medical College Hospital in Savar by ambulance for emergency treatment, but doctors declared her dead on arrival.
Her colleague and Faizunnesa Hall's Returning Officer Professor Sultana Akter said, "The election was 100 percent fair. We worked extremely hard … We were told the votes would be counted by machine. But last night [Thursday night, after the polls closed at 5:00pm] we were suddenly informed that the votes would be counted manually.
"Had the counting been done by machine, the results would have been finished by midnight. My colleague Jannatul Ferdous would not have died. She was under stress from the vote counting. She died due to the election commission's mismanagement. They must take responsibility and Jannatul's family must be compensated. We are teachers; we have families. We cannot bear this stress."
As of 5:40pm on Friday, the results of the election are yet to be announced.
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