Another victim of arson attack during the opposition imposed blockade, died yesterday after battling for life for 15 days at the burn and plastic surgery unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
“Abdul Aziz, 50, a CNG auto-rickshaw driver had 35% of his body burnt died around 4.30am today, as his respiratory system was badly damaged by the fire,” Dr Partha Shankar Pal, Residential Surgeon at the DMCH burn unit told the Dhaka Tribune.
Aziz, from Nangalmura of Hathazari, Chittagong, received burn injuries after pickets hurled a petrol bomb at his vehicle at Muhrihath area while he was on his way home on December 1. Immediately after, he had jumped into a nearby pond to save himself but the fire had already burnt several parts of his body.
He was first taken to Chittagong Medical College Hospital, but as his condition deteriorated, he was shifted to the DMCH on December 4. He was undergoing treatment at the Intensive Care Unit and responding to treatment as well. However, severe damage to Aziz’s respiratory system led to his death.
Following Aziz’s death, his brother Kamal Uddin, was seen running here and there to take the body home without autopsy.
While trying to contact, Kamal in an angered voice said: “You people have killed my brother, you are responsible for this.”
“You have no right to ask anything as you cannot bring my brother back, then why you are disturbing me?” asked Kamal.
Meanwhile, Aziz’s wife Munni Akter, left shell-shocked by the death, was standing in a corner of the morgue gate at the hospital without saying anything or crying out. She was too upset to even respond to her three-year-old boy, Hassan Ferdous, who was crying for water.
Munni said two of her daughters – Rinsi Akter, 8, and Rimsha Akter, 5, were home and waiting for their father.
“Rinsi studies in class three at Nangalmura Primary School, but her education might has to be stopped as no one is left to support us,” she said.
“He had just paid off a loan taken for buying the CNG auto-rickshaw and has no deposit. He used to tell me that he would take care of his children but he would not say how. Now, without him, how will I be able to do so without his support,” Munni said.
Aziz had stopped talking since Sunday morning and spent his last couple of hours at the ICU staring at his son, she said.
Liakat Ali, officer-in-charge at Hathazari police station, told the Dhaka Tribune that a case have been filed with them in this regard and they were searching for the criminals.
With Aziz’s death, the death toll from arson attacks reached 15 while another 16 patients were undergoing treatment at the burn unit with two of them still in the ICU.
