Attacked by pickets, public transport driver, Md Selim, 35, has suffered burns to nearly 34% of his body, including to his face and pulmonary system.
The burns disfigured his face so severely that even his own children cannot recognise him.
Seven-year-old Hasib and three-year-old Shikha went with their mother to the Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) yesterday to see their father who, the children were told, had been in an accident.
When their mother stopped in front of bed number two at the High Deficiency Unit (HDU) of the burn institute, the children asked: “Where is he? Please, let us see him first and then we can visit others.”
Their mother, Hashi Akther, choked by grief, broke down in tears. Their grandmother, Rahima Akther, quietly explained to them that the man on the bed was their father.
Selim had been on his way to Dhaka’s Motijheel area from Mugda, driving his empty human haulier in search of passengers on Sunday evening.
In front of Sardar Garments in the Kamalapur Bazar area, two men flagged him down and asked if the vehicle was available for a ride.
When Selim responded in the affirmative, the two men smashed his windshield with bricks, poured petrol inside the vehicle and set it on fire.
Before Selim could escape, his body caught fire. His clothes ablaze, he started to disrobe in a frantic bid to put out the petrol-driven flames.
He had taken off all of his burning garments until he was left standing naked in the street, but it was too late, the damage had been done.
“‘Please, someone give me some water...Someone give me some water,’ is all I heard him say,” a witness of the incident told the Dhaka Tribune. The witness, Emran Hossain Chowdhury, took Selim to the DMCH.
Emran, who works in a grocery shop, said he had only seen such violent acts in films.
“It was like a nightmare. I cannot sleep at night when I think they set a living person on fire,” he said.
Selim lives in the Madinabagh area of Mugda with his wife, children, mother and sisters.
His wife, Hashi, has become unhinged after the arson attack on her husband, family members said.
She does not go anywhere or do anything. She just sits by his bedside, praying: “Allah, save us from this disaster. Give us release.”
The victim’s mother, Rahima Begum, told the Dhaka Tribune that Selim was her only son and the only earning member of the household.
She said: “Six months ago, Selim took a loan from a credit association to buy a human haulier. He pays Tk8,000 per week in instalments. His rent in Mugda is nearly Tk8,000 per month and, on top of that, this year Selim’s son Hasib has started school for the first time.”
“We might pass a day without food but the association people do not care about anything but the timely payment of their instalments,” said Rahima.
“The human haulier was burned and we are surviving with assistance from Selim’s friends and other drivers. I do not know how long we can carry on this way,” she said.
When asked about Selim’s poor condition, Rahima bites her tongue as if to ward off an evil omen.
With tears in her eyes she said: “Please do not say anything negative. He is the only hope in our life and if anything happens to him then we are all dead.”
Partha Shankar Pal, the resident surgeon of the DMCH burn institute told the Dhaka Tribune that Selim is in critical condition because of inhalation burn injuries.
He said patients in this condition may survive but take time to heal.
According to the burn institute’s records, 10 victims of arson attacks had received treatment in the last seven days.
Along with Selim, auto-rickshaw driver, Siddique, and private car driver, Abul Kalam, were also in critical condition.