Bangladesh elections: My husband died in jail weeks before vote

A woman, a mother and now a widow. She asked us not to use her name.

She has a story to tell but she is afraid to speak in public. We venture along railway tracks to find a quiet place where we can speak privately.

Moving away from a crowded marketplace, we head to an abandoned building. Three flights up we stand on a platform with a clear view of the city. The call to prayer echoes in the background. She tells me about her husband.

He was a well-known worker for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the country's main opposition political party. He loved to sing, especially sentimental songs - a big-hearted man who happily indulged his wife and kids. He was at a nearby tea stall when he was arrested by police late last year. Just 26 days later, his son got a call. His father had died in jail.

"Just three days earlier, my son saw his father, healthy," she said. "My son asked them how he died and they said, we don't know. Just come to the morgue and take him."

When the wife saw her husband, she said he had marks all over his body, hands and face. Authorities told her he died of natural causes. But she believes he was tortured.

"Now my son can't call his father, my daughter can't hear her father's voice. I can't replace the love a father will give. Who will give the fathers love? Now I want justice for my husband."

Human rights organisations say politically motivated arrests, extrajudicial killings and other human rights abuses have risen under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government.

A recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), said the "violent autocratic crackdown" by Bangladeshi authorities was a clear attempt to quash the opposition before the elections. "This all seems like there is no space for dissent or