July warrior Tahrima granted bail
Published: 05 January 2026, 11:08:14
A court has granted bail to a prominent July uprising activist Tahrima Jannat Surovi, who was arrested on allegations of blackmail, case trading and fraud.
Anti-Discrimination Student Movement confirmed the development in a Facebook post on Monday evening, stating that Surovi’s bail had been granted.
Earlier in the day, the Gazipur Metropolitan Magistrate Court had produced Surovi before the court and approved a two-day remand order sought by police.
Supporters staged a protest at the court premises during the hearing, where Surovi claimed that although four people were named as accused in the case, she was the only one arrested under what she described as suspicious circumstances.
The court had earlier ordered a two-day remand for Survi. However, the decision sparked controversy after it emerged that, according to her birth certificate, she is still a minor, raising serious allegations of violations of the Children Act, 2013, which prohibits placing minors on remand or sending them to regular prisons.
Surovi’s lawyer said the case is entirely fabricated and that remand was granted in violation of the law.
He said a revision petition would be filed with the High Court challenging the remand order.
Court documents show that Surovi was born on November 29, 2008, making her 17 years, one month and seven days old. Despite this, police sought remand by presenting her age as 21.
Earlier, on December 26, she was produced before the court as a 20-year-old, after which her bail was denied and she was sent to jail.
Under the Children Act, 2013, anyone under the age of 18 is legally considered a child and cannot be placed on remand. The law also requires minors to be kept in child development centres instead of regular prisons. Lawyers and rights advocates have alleged that these legal protections were ignored in Survi’s case.
Kaliakair Police Station officer-in-charge Khondaker Nasir Uddin said police initially recorded Surovi’s age based on what was mentioned by the complainant in the case statement. However, he acknowledged that her Secondary School Certificate records and current college information show she is an eleventh-grade student at Bhawal Badre Alam Government College.
Surovi gained widespread attention on social media for her active role during the July uprising and was arrested from her residence in Gazipur on December 25.
While police questioning has begun, the controversy surrounding her age and the alleged denial of legal safeguards for minors has raised concerns among human rights activists.
