Free of searing pain, finally

Two more burn victims die

Zyma Islam

A crying Halima holds back her son Liton from running after the stretcher taking his father Farid's body to the morgue from DMCH burn unit yesterday. Photo: Amran Hossain

For the last few days, the arson victim had been crying out in pain: "Kill me please. I don't want to live anymore." He was relieved of his excruciating pain in death yesterday.
Farid Miah is the latest victim of arson attack on innocent civilians by the opposition men. With him, at least 22 arson victims have died at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital alone since October last year.
When he was brought to the DMCH with 48 percent burns on January 3, he broke down in front of doctors and nurses, pleading to them to kill him and stop his pain.
His cries had made the air inside the Intensive Care Unit heavy for the past five days, reminding everyone of the kind of sufferings an arson victim goes through.
And yesterday, as his body was being carted away to the morgue, the cries of Liton, the 10-year-old son he left behind, reminded everyone of the heart-rending pain of seeing a father die a horrifying death.

Halima had feared the worst on Friday, when criminals hurled a petrol bomb at Farid's bus near Ruposhi Bangla Hotel burning him fatally. Photo: File

As if refusing to believe his father was dead, the little boy ran after the stretcher, calling out to it to stop, to bring his father back.
When his elder brother held him back, Liton threw himself on all fours on the filthy hospital floor and tried to crawl after the stretcher.
He finally gave up when he ran out of breath as the sobbing took over. Liton had to be dragged away by the ankles.
The bus Farid was travelling on was set afire by arsonists by a petrol bomb near Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the capital on January 3.
Shahina Akhter, another passenger of the bus who too suffered severe burns, also died early yesterday.
Family members of the 42-year-old official of an insurance company burst out in fury.
"You kill people because you want a special chair, is that it?" cried out one of her sisters, referring to the politicians.
Shahina died of infection-induced shock in the 64 percent areas of her burnt body, doctors said.
Infection control at the burn unit is difficult to achieve because the hospital handles more patients than its capacity, said Partha Shankar Paul, resident surgeon of the burn unit.
Shahina's human rights activist husband SMF Zaman broke down, "If they [the government] cannot stop the arson attacks, why don't they at least try to save our lives by taking us abroad where there is better treatment?"
The family could accept the fate and move on if they knew that an effort had been made by the government to save her life by taking her to Singapore or elsewhere, said Shahida, Shahina's sister.
"The free medicines being given by the hospital will not save our lives. Better medical facilities will," she added.
Meanwhile, police yesterday recovered the body of another arson victim from a burnt truck in Sirajganj.
The truck was set on fire on the Dhaka-Bogra highway on Tuesday evening, leaving two people burned alive and injuring another.
One of the dead, Imran Hossain, 32, was pulled out immediately.
The body of Milon Hossain, 27, the second victim, was found trapped under the truck as police went to rescue the truck yesterday.
The injured, Shafad Ali, is currently fighting for his life at Bogra Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital.
The 55-year-old suffered 55 percent burns, and doctors there said his condition was critical.