After enduring three months of pain, trauma and medical treatment, thirteen-year-old Kolpona, who was brutally abused and tortured by her employer, was finally released from hospital on Wednesday.
Last October, Kolpona was rescued from the household of her employer, Dinat Jahan Ador, in the Basundhara Residential Area with the help of a journalist and the police.
After the media reported Kolpona's rescue and the story of torture, nationwide outrage ensued.
Dhaka Tribune’s in-depth news about Kolpona was submitted to the Human Rights Commission along with other media reports.
For the last five years, Kolpona had been physically and mentally tortured by her employer, Ador, and her brother, Anwar.
Despite her years of suffering and months-long medical procedures, Kolpona displayed remarkable resilience.
Kolpona told Dhaka Tribune: “I want justice for what happened to me.”
Legal battle
As of Wednesday, both of the arrestees were denied bail. Anwar has confessed to the crime under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Kolpona’s lawyer, advocate Fahmida Akhter, said: “We are now communicating with the investigating officer to file the chargesheet.”
“As Kolpona has been released from hospital, the investigating officer can now collect all the medical documents,” she added.
The case against Ador and Anwar was filed under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, 2000, which imposes punishment of up to 14 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to Tk50,000.
However, Fahmida Akhter remarked that the punishment would be according to the section(s) cited in the chargesheet of the case.
Fahmida Akhter said she will not go for any out-of-court monetary settlement for Kolpona’s case.
She said that cases like this usually get resolved with out-of-court monetary settlements.
“That is the reason why we do not get exemplary results. If we had exemplary results, people would have been more aware. Thus, crimes like this will be reduced,” she added.
Fahmida Akhter requested everyone to follow the news and stay vigilant, which may help to bring exemplary results.
Kolpona’s treatment
Associate professor of Burn & Plastic Surgery Unit, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dr Mohammad Nashir Uddin, told Dhaka Tribune: “Almost every part of her body was injured, with severe damage to her face, particularly her lips along with her hands, back, and legs.”
According to Dr Nashir, The back of her leg had a major wound which started showing signs of gangrene. That wound had almost 500 grams of pus.
As Kolpona was carrying chronic wounds for a long period, she bled multiple times. Thus, she lost a huge amount of blood over the period, which resulted in Anemia.
Dr Nashir remarked that Kolpona was also nutritionally poor when she came to the hospital.
“When Kolpona was brought here, our first priority was her survival,” he said.
When Kolpona reached a certain level of physical stability, doctors decided to remove pus from her body.
“Because if it reaches the blood, then septicemia can happen. It will put the patient at a life risk,” Dr Nashir added.
After removing the pus, doctors focused on open wounds and many of them were necrotic. Doctors performed a process called surgical toileting to clean the wounds.
Then Kolpona’s wounds were covered into a closed dressing, to avoid further infections.
Dr Nashir said: “When her physical health improved, we focused on her mental health. Kolpona went through multiple sleepless nights as a result of her trauma.”
According to him, the psychiatry department of DMCH extended their hand to improve Kolpona’s mental health through psychotherapy sessions.
“The incredible thing is that Kolpona recovered from her mental agony in a very short period,” said Dr Nashir.
Improving Kolpona’s mental health was very important for the doctors to perform further surgeries on her.
Some small wounds on her skin were primarily treated by removing the excess. The big wound on her back required flap surgery.
Kolpona's teeth, which were severely damaged by the torture, have still not been fixed. She has a temporary solution with the help of Dr Abdullah Al Masud of Dhaka Dental College And Hospital.
Dr Nashir said: “Her lips still have a small deformity. After the permanent solution of her dental, we will work on that after three to six months.”
“So far, we are happy that, after a long and rigorous journey, Kolpona became healthy with her resilience, and it was a large cooperation of everyone,“ he added.
Upon asking questions about whether her post-traumatic stress disorder could come back, she replied: “There might be possibilities. To avoid that, everyone around her must be careful.
“I will urge everyone to be supportive. The determination I have seen in her is amazing. I think if she gets the opportunity, she can be an asset to society. If she can do this, she will be an example to everyone. I think everyone needs to support her to achieve this,” said Dr Nashir.
Journalist who rescued her
Private television channel Ekattor TV’s Senior Reporter Eshtiak Emon, who helped the rescue of Kolpona and followed the development throughout these three months, told Dhaka Tribune: “Journalism has power, and we have to put it to good use.”
“Results like this provide both professional and mental relief.”
“When we rescued her, the biggest question was her survival. Now, she is relatively well and smiling, that puts me at ease,” he said.
Emon said: “Every story carries a responsibility. A story does not rely on a single event. It has consequences and we have to follow up with it.”
Emon remarked that some are trying to negotiate with Kolpona’s family for a settlement. Emon is also motivating her family to stay away from it.
“I will follow it till the court decides the case,” said Emon.
Kolpona told Dhaka Tribune: “Now it’s time to go back to my village and start studying.”
Kolpona requested everyone to keep her in their prayers.
