In a scene that left mourners in tears, Nusrat Jahan Nipa — injured, bandaged, and confined to a wheelchair — bid her final farewell to her son, 23-year-old medical student Rafiul Islam Rafi, who died after a brick struck his head during Friday’s earthquake in Kasaituli, Bangshal.
“Son, I will meet you in heaven,” she cried, as relatives struggled to hold back their grief.
Nipa collapsed moments later, her cries echoing across the hospital compound in Bogra.
Rafi, a second-year student at Sir Salimullah Medical College, was buried after Asr prayers on Saturday beside his grandfather at Anjuman-e-Gorasthan graveyard in Bogra city.
His Namaz-e-Janaza was held hours earlier at the Sutrapur Central Eidgah after Zuhr prayers.
The fatal incident occurred at 10:38am on Friday, when Rafi and his mother went to buy meat near a shop in Kasaituli.
As tremors from the earthquake shook the area, a railing from a five-storey building broke loose and collapsed onto the shoppers below.
A falling brick struck Rafi on the head, fatally injuring him, while Nipa suffered serious trauma to her head, right eye, and hand.
Locals and firefighters rushed the two to Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared Rafi dead upon arrival.
His father, Osman Gani Rustom, principal of Bancharampur Polytechnic Institute in Brahmanbaria, was in Bogra at the time.
He travelled to Dhaka immediately after learning of the tragedy.
“Our dreams for him have been buried under rubble,” a grieving family member said.
A promising student, a family’s pride
Rafi was the younger of two siblings.
His elder sister, Atia Wasima Raita, recently completed her final year in Botany at Dhaka University.
The family lives in a rented home in Old Dhaka, while maintaining their ancestral house, Ramicha Villa, at Gohail Road in Bogra.
Known for his calm nature and dedication to service, Rafi had recently completed his second-year medical exams.
He passed his SSC from Bogra Armed Police Battalion School and College and HSC from Bogra Cantonment Public School and College before enrolling at Sir Salimullah Medical College.
On Saturday morning, Rafi’s body was transported to Bogra, where relatives, neighbours, and classmates gathered at Ramicha Villa in overwhelming sorrow.
Nipa was admitted to Bogra Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital for further treatment.
Doctors later confirmed she is out of physical danger.
However, the emotional devastation remains profound.
The family did not inform her of Rafi’s death until after Zohr.
When she was brought on a stretcher to see her son’s body before the burial, she wept uncontrollably and asked her brothers to descend into the grave in her stead.
Family members expressed anger over the state of the buildings and safety hazards in Old Dhaka.
“This city has become uninhabitable. Buildings are unsafe, shops store gas cylinders, and people are at constant risk,” said a relative.
“The government must act urgently before more lives are lost.”