A Catholic Church official has joined Bangladeshi journalists in expressing frustration that justice has not been served for the gruesome murder six years ago of two journalists who were in a relationship.

Dozens of reporters attended a protest rally in Dhaka on Feb. 11 to decry what they saw as the government’s lack of commitment to conducting a proper investigation into the case and deliver justice for the killings of Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi.

They have called on reporters nationwide to unite and press the government to bring the killer or killers to trial.

Sagar, a news editor for privately owned Massranga TV and Runi, a senior reporter for the ATN Bangla TV channel, were hacked to death at their residence in Dhaka on Feb. 11, 2012.

The couple’s only child, Mahir Sarowar Megh, was present when the murders took place. At the time the child was just 5 years old.

“It seems mysterious that six years have passed and the probe has yet to yield any [substantial] result,” Father Anthony Sen, convener of the Justice and Peace Commission in Dinajpur Catholic Diocese, told ucanews.com.

“I think those who are investigating the case know who was behind it but they are staying tight-lipped as the perpetrators might be very influential politically and financially,” he added.

Harun-ur-Rashid, head of news at leading Bengali web portal Bangla Tribune said the government may be stalling due to a “hidden agenda.”

“It’s absolutely unacceptable that law enforcers, who are wildly successful in combating terrorism and militancy, are failing to hold the perpetrators of the Sagar-Runi murder,” Rashid told ucanews.com.

“They know [who did it] but they are hushing it up with government misdirection to save their own backs,” he said.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) recently ranked Bangladesh as the 10^th-deadliest country for journalists to work in globally.

According to CPJ, 21 journalists have been murdered in Bangladesh since 1992. No one has been charged in 15 of the cases.