Farzana, one of the survivors of Mirpur Bihari camp fire, is still unaware of the death of her family members and relatives even after a month.
As she has got most of her body parts burnt completely, she is now even unable to eat using her own hand.
Her father Md Yasin, a salon worker who also survived the accident, said his wife Baby, 40, son Ashik, 27, Ashik’s wife Shikha, three daughters – Shahana, 26, Afsana, 19, and Roksana, 16, twins Lalu and Bhulu, 14, and Shahana’s two-year-old son Maruf, died in the arson attack.
Farzana’s aunt Khairun and Yasin have been looking after her for the past one month at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
The 15-year-old asks her aunt: “Where is my mother and brothers? How are they? Bring them to me. I want to see my mother.”
Khairun consoled her by saying that her mother and brothers were undergoing treatment in other hospitals and would soon come to meet her.
Recalling the horror of the incident, Farzana told the Dhaka Tribune: “I was in the house when it happened. All of us, except my father, were inside the room. When the fire broke out, I managed to get out by breaking the window of the room. Later on, I was taken to the hospital.”
“My mother and brothers also sustained burn injuries. They are fine now and are being treated at other hospitals. Soon they will come and meet me,” she added.
Farzana had very intimate relationship with her mother and brothers and Yasin is afraid that she would not be able to bear the shock of learning that her family members had passed away.
“I cannot move my right hand and my aunt feeds me. I feel excruciating pain in my hand. I got half of my left hand burnt. Moreover, my back and right leg were completely burnt in the fire,” said Farzana.
The girl is a fifth grader at a Brac-run School in Mirpur.
Khairun told the Dhaka Tribune: “She does not know anything about the family devastation yet. She is unable to use the fingers of her right hand as it was completely burnt. Only bones exist in the hand. Doctors said they would perform a small surgery on Thursday.”
“No one came to see us and we are also not getting any aid from anybody. My daughter’s treatment is costing me around Tk400 every day. Doctors said she could be released after two or three weeks,” said Yasin.
The father said: “The biggest loss has happened in my life. I have no one left in my family. My daughter is badly injured and the burn marks will be there for the rest of her life. She cannot use her right hand. Amid such a situation, who will marry her?”
“I beg the government for helping me so that I can save my daughter. If I get some aid, I can use it to marry her off,” he added.
On June 14, a series of clashes among Bihari people of Old Kurmitola camp in Kalshi, police and outsiders centring explosion of firecrackers left at least 10 people, including nine of a family, dead in Mirpur.
The three-hour clash erupted after Fajr prayers in front of a mosque as some Bihari youths had exploded firecrackers on the occasion of Shab-e-Barat defying requests made by people and police.
During the clash, law enforcers fired rubber bullets and teargas while the Biharis responded with brick chips and the “miscreants” showed up with lethal weapons.
