“Will I ever see my daughter again, see her dance, go to school and grow up?” It was more a passing remark of a soul in torment than a question posed to elicit specific words of assurance.
Amena Begum, who received rubber-bullet injuries to her eyes during a police-pickets clash, has only one wish in her life that of seeing her daughter again, but little does she know that she might lose her vision completely.
The stray bullet that struck her on Friday damaged her eyesight badly and doctors at the National Institute of Eye Science & Hospital had already lost hope on her left eye. The right eye was operated on yesterday but stands little chances of functioning again.
Prof Dr Din Mohammad Nurul Haque, an eye specialist at the hospital, told the Dhaka Tribune that nothing could be said to be certain. “We cannot say anything before making some medical tests. She may or may not be able to see through her right eye again.”
The 23-year-old woman was injured in a crossfire when the activists of Jamaat-Shibir, in a forewarned reaction to the execution of war crimes convict Abdul Quader Molla, wrought havoc on certain parts of the capital and clashed with police officials as the latter tried to prevent them from doing so.
Amena, who hailed from Sundarganj of Gaibandha, worked at a clothing factory in Malibagh at a monthly salary of Tk4,500 and has a four-year-old daughter living with her in-laws in Khulna.
On that fateful day, she was going back to work after lunch and struck by a rubber bullet as she neared her office, leaving her unconscious. She is now worried about ever being able to see her little child again.
“I cannot even cry now; everything about my eyes is so painful. I have always struggled in my life to find some comfort for my family, and now
people I even don’t know about have ruined my life, for their own interest,” Amena said.
Mohammad Sumon, her brother-in-law, said the cost of the treatment was bearing down on them. “We are very poor and totally unable to treat her without any help from outside. The first night’s treatment alone cost us around Tk10,000.”
Meanwhile, the condition of 11-year-old schoolboy Shanto, who received splinter injuries during another clash in Fakirapool on the same day, was known to be improving. Doctors at the neurosurgery unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where he is being treated, said he was in the process of recovering.
Dr Pijush Kanti Mitro, an assistant registrar with the unit, said Shanto was out of danger. “There are several bullets inside his body and we will remove those that can harm him. Others would vanish within five years or so.”
During the series of clashes on Friday between the unruly activists of Jamaat-Shibir and police, a dozen of individuals were injured while a number of vehicles damaged or torched.
