When Shakil Shikdar lost his mother at the age of five, his father refused to tie the knot again for the sake of the only son.
Now the 17-year-old, who is fighting for his life at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) after being critically injured in an arson attack, is requesting doctors not to inform his father of his condition as he thinks it will be a shock too great to deal with for the man.
Shakil’s father Md Jasim is now in Kazichar village of Muladi in Barisal, which is the family’s hometown, and is unaware of what his son has gone through.
Shakil has got 50% of his body burnt in the attack, including the face, and doctors have kept him in the intensive care unit. His whole body has been bandaged.
The teenager is the conductor of a bus of Ashian Paribahan, which was set on fire at Saoghat area of Rupganj in Narayanganj around 3:30am yesterday.
Apart from Shakil, helper of the bus, Yasin, 14, and Mainuddin, 24, also received burn injuries as they were sleeping inside the vehicle.
Mainuddin was the first to sense that the bus had been torched. He jumped out of a window and yelled for help. Some locals were on the scene shortly and helped rescue Shakil and Yasin.
Mainuddin was admitted to a local clinic after the attack while Shakil and Yasin are undergoing treatment at the DMCH burn unit.
Yasin Shikdar, a cousin of Shakil, told the Dhaka Tribune that Shakil could not continue his studies because of financial constraints of the family.
“He had to start working for money since his childhood. He has worked as a bus helper and later became a conductor,” added Yasin.
Shakil’s paternal aunt Kalpana Begum, who raised him after the death of his mother, told the Dhaka Tribune at the hospital that Shakil was speaking incoherently.
“He is suffering from excruciating pain. At one moment, he is saying that he will no longer live and the next moment, he is urging physicians not to tell anything to his father,” she added.
Another injured Yasin, who lives on Shahjalal Road in the capital’s Demra, is an orphan, and lives in the house of Jahangir Mia, his uncle.
Jahangir said he felt helpless seeing Yasin suffering from severe pain.
“The fire has burnt 14% of his body and his respiratory system has also been affected,” he said.
Dr Partha Shankar Paul, resident surgeon of the burn unit, told the Dhaka Tribune that a total of 150 people had taken treatment at the burn unit since the blockade began on January 6.