In the early afternoon of December 2, 2013, five men left a Shahbagh restaurant and walked back toward Shishu Amusement Park, four of them— Sarkar, Zahir, Hossain, and Chanchal—were picked up by law enforcement officers dressed in civilian dress and were bundled into a microbus. Two of the men witnessed the detention and asked not to be identified.The photograph was taken in Dhaka, on December 24, 2024.

Sanjida Islam Tulee, coordinator of Maayer Daak (Mothers’ Call), stands by the banks of the Padma River with Fawzia Muskan. Fawzia is the eight-year-old daughter of Md. Murshidul Islam, disappeared on 19 April 2017. Tulee’s brother, Sajedul Islam Suman, also disappeared on 4 December 2013 along with seven others. Maayer Daak is an organisation of the families of the disappeared, where survivors sustain one another with courage and collective resistance. Photographed on dec 21, 2024.

Farjana, the wife of Parvez Hossain, who was detained on December 2, 2013, from Shahbagh Crossing in Dhaka, speaks about the painful burden of concealing her husband’s disappearance. “In my building, all the other flat members know that my husband lives abroad. No one actually knows that my husband has disappeared. Even in my child’s school, everyone knows that he lives abroad. We can’t say his father has disappeared because of the government agency. What kind of word is that! People are not aware of enforced disappearance,” she says. For the past 10 years, she has hidden the truth, with her sons telling others their father is “okay in abroad.” She adds, “Even in my office, nobody knows about my husband’s reality because they could fire me since the law enforcement agency took him. Our relatives are even afraid to keep connections with us.” The truth, however, has gradually come to light through news and protests, leaving Farjana unsure of how to explain the painful reality. Photographed on February 18, 2023, Dhaka.

"My son used to cry to go to the mosque. He has been crying for it since the age of four. He used to perform Namaz at home, nonetheless. Now, I let him go to the mosque, having faith in Allah. My son always stays in this room. School or home; I do not let him go outside much. I feel scared. If something similar happens to him, I would not survive. " - Baby, wife of Tara mia who was abducted onaug 14, 2012.. The photograph was taken in on September 28, 2023, Dhaka.

In June 2018, Jamsher Ali watched helplessly as several men in plainclothes identifying themselves as member of RAB picked up his 30-year-old son from outside their home from Dhaka. He (Jamsher Ali) collected CCTV footage that shows few members with uniforms of RAB, at a nearby shop.The photograph was taken in Dhaka on May 20, 2023.

“Sometimes I see him in my dreams. I see him lying down, inside the house. Yes. I suddenly enter and see him lying there. I say, ‘We have been searching the whole world for you, and you’re lying here?’ He says, ‘Where did you look? If you searched properly, you would find me. Search well, then you will find me.’ Then suddenly, I don’t see him anymore. I turn on the light and sit up in bed. The entire nights pass like that…at some point, my child asks, ‘What happened, Amma?’ I say, ‘I just saw your father.’ After that, neither of us can sleep. And I sit, and keep thinking about what I just saw, even after searching everywhere, why does he say, ‘Where are you looking? If you searched, you would find me.’”- minu, Wife of Kawsar who has been abducted on 4th dec 2013.Photographed on may 15,2023 in Dhaka.

“One year inside those walls feels like two thousand years. Breathing was difficult. At first, they said I would be released soon. But as months turned into years, I stopped holding on to hope. Food was inadequate inside that airless, dark room. The mental pain became so agonizing that I told them to kill me rather than keep me alive like this. Even now, I cannot sleep at night. The slightest sound startles me. My return feels astonishing to me, and miraculous to others. It feels like a kind of rebirth.” — Michael Chakma who was abducted on april 9 2019 and get back on 7th aug after the july uprising.Photographed on dec 31, 2024.

In the aftermath of the July Uprising, the corrupts official try to destroy the evidence from secret detention centres, these photos are from secret detention centre in Rab 1, in Dhaka. The photograph was taken on March 4,2025.

Arian was just four years old when his father was taken from him, and nine long years have passed since his disappearance. Despite the passage of time, the deep emotional wound remains raw and Arian continues to feel the absence of his beloved father every day. His father, Khaled Hasan Sohel was abducted on November 28, 2013. The photograph was taken in Dhaka, on March 23, 2023.

The Inquiry Commission on Enforced Disappearances has stated that a total of 1,913 complaints were submitted to the commission. After verification and review, 1,569 of these complaints were identified as cases of enforced disappearance under the defined criteria. Among them, 287 cases fall into the category of “missing and dead.” More than 350 people have never returned from enforced disappearance, and their families do not know whether they are alive or dead. “The number could range from four to six thousand. When we make contact with some of the victims of enforced disappearance, we learn through them about other victims who have not contacted us—either because they do not know about us, or have moved to another country. There have been many individuals whom we reached out to ourselves, but were unwilling to speak on the record.” — Nabila Idris, commission meber of The Inquiry Commission on Enforced Disappearances.

In an attempt to preserve proof, the family members of the enforced-disappeared individuals carefully keep the newspapers featuring the news regarding their kin's disappearance. Firoz khan and Miraz khan were abducted on 2012. The photograph was taken on September 16, 2022, Barisal.

When Sohel disappeared, we were staying at our in-laws’ house, near Jubilee School in Banglabazar. The house was an old two-storey building right by a narrow alley. I often felt like I could hear Sohel calling from the window. Because that used to be his habit—he’d come home late at night and call out from below, sometimes calling me, sometimes his father. The call rings in my ears. It feels like he’s still calling, from the gate. Once, all of us heard it—my father, me, even Sohel’s younger brother. We went outside, but there was no one. The next morning, we realized all three of us had heard the same thing: Sohel calling.” — Sayedah Shammi Sultana Nipa, the wife of khaled hasan sohel who has been abducted on November 28,2013.photographed on aug 16,2024.

“I used to stare at the street-residing mentally disabled people. What if one of them is his father? Maybe he has gone crazy due to the injections? Whenever I used to see some mentally unstable people on the street, I used to go and look at them closely to confirm if he is my son’s father. Or the people I know... what if they are either Khalid Hasan, Sohel’s wife, Parvez or Sohel uncle. They said they will set him free if he goes crazy, that is why I used to stand on roads and examine if the face matches. If I find someone wearing the same shirt as he did while leaving, I stop and look at them.”wife of Tariqul Islam Tara. Tariqul islam tara was detained on August 14, 2012 from Pallabi, Dhaka.Photographed in Dhaka on march 4 , 2025.

Sajedul Islam Sumon; Zahidul Islam Tanvir; Mazharul Islam Russel; Abdul Quader Bhuiyan Masum; Asaduzzaman Rana; and Al Amin were abducted from Bashundara on Aug. 4, 2013, and have not returned.

“You see this carefully decorated home—he did it all. I cannot leave this love behind. I cannot go anywhere, step out for a while, cannot leave the children behind, by themselves. I only wait, what if he’s back and I’m not here? In Old Dhaka, you know what guardians do—if a woman’s husband dies or goes away, they arrange her remarriage. I tell them: if Jahir comes back, will you be able to tell him you married me off? If he can see and accept that, and you can answer him, then I will marry—no problem. My elder brother says, can a person live like this? I say, why not? What is the problem? Nine years have passed for others, but for me, life stopped in 2013.” - Reshma Akter ,photographed on june 5,2025 in Dhaka.

"Inside RAB One there was a large space: on one side they kept dogs, on the other side rabbits. I was watching them when suddenly I saw a building. It was very old and looked horrible. Seeing that building, I somehow felt there were people there and that my father was there. After Aug. 5, when I was brought out from the RAB office, they took me to that building — the place I had wanted to go 12 years ago; my father was in those cells. If, 12 years ago, my father had known I was there, I believe no power in the world — not even Sheikh Hasina — could have separated me from him. It pains me that I could not bring my father out." — Hafsa Islam Raita. sajedul islam sumon was abducted on december 4,2013.This photowas taken march 4, 2025.

On the evening of April 4, 2013, Marufa Islam Ruma’s husband, Mofizul Islam Rashed, was abducted by men claiming to be from the Detective Branch (DB) of Bangladesh Police from a tea stall near their home. Witnesses reported that Rashed was taken away in a gray microbus. Marufa initially believed the arrest was related to his opposition party affiliation, but law enforcement denied detaining him when she visited police and RAB offices. On April 8, 2013, the family filed a missing persons report, but police refused to acknowledge the abduction in the general diary. Photographed in savar on June 5, 2024.

As Selim Reza Pintu's return was uncertain after the disappearance, his in-laws forcefully married off his wife to a different groom. Angry at the incident, a second-grader niece of Pintu tore the picture and kept the torn part with care, realizing that that was the only picture left of Pintu. Selim Reza Pintu was abducted on 11 December, 2013. The photograph was taken on June 30, 2022, Dhaka.

The July Uprising in Bangladesh and the subsequent revolution have brought these issues into sharper focus, particularly as individuals once detained in secret facilities began to emerge, bearing testimony to the harrowing conditions of their captivity and the state's tactics of suppression. Their stories provide further illuminating evidence of the systemic nature of these enforced disappearances.This photos are taken from the secret detention centre in Rab 2, on March 15, 2025, Dhaka

In December 2013, amid a nationwide crackdown on BNP leaders and activists, Pintu and his wife left their home in Sutrapur and took refuge at a relative’s apartment in Mirpur. In the early hours of 12 December, five to six armed men arrived at the flat. According to Pintu’s brother, Aslam Reza Mintu, they identified themselves as members of the “administration.” After that her mother Hasina banu was desperately looking for her son but selim reza never came back.

Families of the disappeared wait with agonizing pain for the return of their loved ones. This act of waiting is a harrowing condition marked by a refusal to accept that those taken may never return. Each bit of audible, stray sound is charged with hope: the ring of a bell, a knock at the door, a passing car. To the families, these auditory cues signal that their loved one may be back. Doors are left unlocked in anticipation, tuned to the possibility of a familiar sound. The open door thus becomes a symbol, a threshold between the living and the dead, a site where grief remains gestating and unresolved.Photographed on may 15,2023 in Dhaka

Wife to a disappeared individual (Firoz Khan), A single mother fights against financial crisis and mental trauma to ensure basic education for her child, living in a congested, dark room. Firoz Khan was abducted in 2012. The photograph was taken in Pirojpur, on September 15, 2022.

A religious preacher gave Bristy (wife of Firoz Khan) different amulets and told her to put them at the corner of their house. So that they can save themselves from various dangers and also find her husband. Firoz Khan was abducted in 2012. The photograph was taken on September 15, 2022, Pirojpur.

Araf was in the womb of his mother Farzana when his father Parvez Hossain had been abducted. Parvez Hossain disappeared on December 2, 2013 from the Shahbagh crossing, Dhaka. This photo was taken on may 15, 2023, Dhaka.

Farjana, the wife of Parvez Hossain, who was detained on December 2, 2013, from Shahbagh Crossing in Dhaka, speaks about the painful burden of concealing her husband’s disappearance. “In my building, all the other flat members’ families know that my husband lives abroad. No one actually knows that my husband has disappeared. Even in my child’s school, everyone knows that he lives abroad. We can’t say his father has disappeared because of the government agency. What kind of word is that! People are not aware of enforced disappearance,” she says. For the past 10 years, she has hidden the truth, with her sons telling others their father is “okay abroad.” She adds, “Even in my office, nobody knows about my husband’s reality because they could kick me out of the office since the law enforcement agency took him. Our relatives are even afraid to keep connections with us.” The truth, however, has gradually come to light through news and protests, leaving Farjana unsure of how to explain the painful reality. Photographed on July 25, 2022, Dhaka.

Abdur Kader Masum was one of the individuals detained by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) officers on Dec. 4, 2013, and has remained missing ever since. Despite his family’s repeated efforts to file complaints and seek justice, authorities have denied them a proper investigation. Masum’s mother, Ayesha Ali, was told by police that her son was simply “missing,” reflecting the broader lack of accountability for those detained that night. The ongoing disappearance of Masum continues to be a source of deep grief for his family, who have faced repeated denials from authorities in their search for answers. Photographed on June 25, 2023, Dhaka.

Those days no longer exist—it still feels like 2013. I am living in 2013, holding on to 2013. I don’t even realize that it’s 2022 now. I forget many things. I ask my son, “What year is it? What’s today’s date? What day is it?” Many times I forget that it’s Friday. When I hear the khutbah over the loudspeaker, I say, “Allah! Today is Friday.” I forget so much. I tell him, “Son, I’m keeping this here—please remind me later.” The location where nazrul islam has been abducted april 27,2014. This photo was taken on aug 16,2024.