A teenage girl still does not know that all members of her family including her parents were killed in the arson attack at Kurmitola Bihari Camp in Kalshi last Saturday.
Sixteen-year-old girl Farzana Akter is the sole survivor of the arson attack. She is now undergoing treatment with 17% burn injury at the Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
Two of her paternal aunts are attending her at the hospital.
When asked about her family Farzana yesterday said her father, mother and other members were busy rebuilding their house burnt to ashes in the fire on the night of Shab-e-Barat.
“I don’t know who set the house on fire but I can only recall that all my family members including my father Yeasin Ali, mother Beby Begum, sisters Sahana, Afsana and Roksana, brothers Asiq, Lalu and Bulu, my brother’s wife Shikha and sister Sahana’s son Maruf were at home.
“My brothers were having fun in front of our house after prayer but suddenly some people in presence of police attacked our place and in no time I found our house on fire,” said Farzana in a frightening voice.
After a portion of wall of their tin-shed house collapsed she bolted out of the house from where locals took her to hospital.
She believed that other family members received injury but they are all right and can not squeeze out time to visit her as they are busy rebuilding their burnt house.
A student of Class V of UCEF School Farzana wants to achieve some technical skill beside her education. “I do not know how I will continue with my education as all of my books were burnt in the fire.
Shairun Akther, a paternal aunt of Farzana who was attending her at the hospital said doctors told her not to disclose the news of deaths of Farzana’s other family members as it might disturb her psychologically and delay her recovery.
“We will let her know everything after her recovery. We are now more concerned about her burnt face. If her face does not return to its normal state it will be a hard job to marry her off and there is nobody left to look after this girl.
Partha Shankar Pal, Residential Surgeon of the DMCH Burn Unit, yesterday said the girl is improving day by day and we are providing her better treatment.
Earlier, last Saturday at least 10 people including nine members of a family were killed in a series of clashes between Urudu speaking people of Kurmitola Bihari camp, police and locals over explosion of fire crackers in Mirpur in the capital.
