A woman in Ukhiya died on Saturday night after allegedly being pushed and shoved while trying to protect her son during an attack by BNP and Chhatra Dal activists over a laughter emoji on a Facebook post.

The victim, Syada Begum, 55, was the wife of Sabbir Ahmed of the Taipalong area.

According to locals, slogans -- “Joy Bangla, Joytu Sheikh Hasina” -- were written on a wall of Taipalong Madrasa several days ago. Following the incident, local BNP leaders filed a complaint with Ukhiya police against several activists of the banned Chhatra League and Awami League, whose political activities are prohibited.

On Saturday evening, Chhatra Dal activist Jisan Sikdar made a Facebook post regarding the graffiti. Mohammad Yunus, known to be a BCL activist, reacted to the post with the emoji.

Witnesses said several BNP and Chhatra Dal activists later assaulted Yunus. SM Imran, a local NGO worker and a friend of Yunus, was also allegedly beaten up when he tried to save Yunus around 8:00pm.

Family members alleged that Syada rushed to the spot after hearing of the attack on her son Imran. While trying to save him, she was pushed and shoved to the ground and fell ill at the scene. She was later taken to the Ukhiya Upazila Health Complex, where doctors declared her dead.

Imran alleged that local ward BNP President Abdur Rahim and his son Akash, BNP leader Mizan Sikdar and his son Jisan Sikdar, Sramik Dal leader Saiful Sikdar, and 10 to 12 others attacked them without provocation.

“My mother came running to save me. They grabbed her by the neck and pushed her, and she fell to the ground. She was taken to hospital immediately, where doctors declared her dead,” he said.

“We are not involved in politics. I want justice for my mother,” he added.

At a press conference later that night, BNP leader Mizan Sikdar and his son Jisan Sikdar claimed that they were not present at the scene during the incident.

Jisan said, “We are being accused out of political vengeance. We want a fair investigation by the administration.”

Talking to The Daily Star, Sarwar Jahan Chowdhury, president of Ukhiya upazila unit BNP, said they were getting conflicting statements about the incident.

“Police are investigating it. If the post-mortem report and police investigation confirm the allegation of assault and it is proved that any BNP members were involved in the woman’s death, organisational action will be taken against them,” he said.

ANM Sajedur Rahman, superintendent of Cox’s Bazar police, said the woman was pushed during the altercation and later died after being taken to hospital.

Mujibur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Ukhiya Police Station, said no visible injury marks were found on the woman’s body in the inquest report, adding that no case was filed till filing of this report around 8:00pm today.

Meanwhile, police who took Yunus into custody freed him today.

Sabuktagin Sohel, resident medical officer of Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital, said the exact cause of death would be known after the report is released.