Students protesting over the death of 15-year-old Dhaka Residential Model College (DRMC) student Nayeemul Abrar have given Prothom Alo authorities an ultimatum of 72 hours to submit the report of probe body, formed by the newspaper as part of investigation into the death.
Blaming mismanagement and negligence of the organisers for Nayeemul's death, they also demanded Prothom Alo to submit CCTV footages of the event day to be released in social media or on national TV channels.
About 30 DRMC students, at a human chain organized in front of the DRMC gate at Mohammadpur in Dhaka came up with the demands.
Protesters also demanded a written statement by the doctor who advised sending Nayeemul to a Mohakhali hospital, and a statement from the hospital authorities.
They also asked Prothom Alo to hold a press briefing, admitting their negligence and mismanagement regarding the incident.
Nayeemul, a ninth-grader non-residential student of DRMC, was electrocuted by a power generator during a program organized by Kishor Alo, youth supplement of leading newspaper Prothom Alo on the school premises on Friday.
The accident happened when Nayeemul unfortunately went close to the live wires set up for a power generator behind the main stage. He went to watch the program Ki Ananda, an event, organized by Prothom Alo's supplement Kishor Alo.
As soon as he was electrocuted, he was checked by two on duty doctors at the venue. Ascertaining the gravity of the situation, the doctors sent Nayeemul to Universal Medical College Hospital at Mohakhali, where the doctors declared him dead.
Students protesting in front of Dhaka Residential Model college on Saturday, November 2, 2019 | Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune
During the whole process of sending Abrar to the hospital, and till the time they heard the news of Nayeemul's death, none of the people from the organizers called off the program, and wanted to know the situation of the victim.
Meanwhile, DRMC formed a three member probe committee over the incident, and asked it to submit its report within the next seven days.
In a separate media release, Dhaka Residential Model College Science Club alleged that the Kishor Alo authorities were notified several times about the bad conditions of the wire, but no action was taken.
They also criticised the organisers for taking the student to Universal Medical College Hospital instead of nearby Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital.
Meanwhile, Old Remian’s Welfare Association, the association of former students of Dhaka Residential Model College, blamed the negligence of management, and demanded justice for the death.
Kishor Alo management regrets the death
On a Facebook post, Kishor Alo Editor Anisul Hoque expressed deep regret over the death.
He however claimed that he is unaware of why Nayeemul was not taken to nearby National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases.
