A 10-year-old domestic help succumbed to burn injuries at the Chittagong Medical College Hospital yesterday.
Tamanna, the second among four children of domestic worker Saleha Begum and rickshaw van driver Md Momin, was engaged as a domestic help at a tender age because of poverty.
She used to work at the residence of Ayesha Akter in Shulakbahar area in the port city.
On January 25, lying on the bed of CMCH with 40% burn injury, Tamanna said she caught fire from a gas stove while boiling water.
She said on January 24, Ayesha had asked her to boil water and after she boiled it, Ayesha beat her up saying that the water was not boiled properly.
“Then she [Ayesha] ordered me to boil the water again. In the kitchen, while lighting the stove, my clothes caught fire,” said Tamanna while withering in pain.
Ayesha said the fire spread all over Tamanna’s body as she panicked and ran to and fro.
“Hearing her screaming we rushed to the kitchen and doused the fire,” she said.
Tamanna was admitted to CMCH with burn injuries on neck, chest, abdomen, back and hands.
Dr Mishma Islam, medical officer at the Burn and Plastic Surgery unit of CMCH, said Tamanna’s condition was critical as 40% of her body was burnt and she had died around 4am yesterday.
Tamanna’s mother Saleha Begum said Ayesha had been torturing Tamanna since she joined work on December 16 last year.
“When I went to the house three to four days ago, Tamanna was crying to return with me as she did not want to stay there. Ayesha used to torture her both physically and mentally over trivial matters,” she said.
On January 27, this correspondent found the victim’s family terrified to talk in presence of Ayesha at the hospital.
After Ayesha left the hospital the victim and her mother spoke to the correspondent.
Denying the allegation of torturing the minor girl, Ayesha said she did not order Tamanna to boil water that day.
“I beat her lightly once,” Ayesha said, adding that she treated Tamanna as her daughter.
Tamanna’s father Md Momin said Ayesha bore all the expenses of his daughter’s treatment.
Ayesha could not be reached over phone yesterday after Tamanna’s death.