No fewer than 21 inmates of the Tongi Child Development Centre (CDC) in Gazipur were treated at Shaheed Ahsan Ullah Master General Hospital after they fell sick.
The development followed the death of a 15-year-old inmate at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Wednesday. He was receiving treatment at the Dhaka hospital.
The relatives of Maruf Ahmed, the deceased, accused the CDC authorities of torturing him at the development centre.
The Manabadhikar Shongskriti Foundation rights group condemned the death, demanding a proper investigation into it and justice for the deceased.
Meanwhile, Delwar Hossain, caretaker of the Tongi Child Development Centre, said last night that a number of boys “fell sick” at the centre.
“Of them, 21 were sent to the hospital in Tongi between around 8:30pm on Thursday and on Friday noon. There were more ill boys, but they were not sent to the hospital due to lower health issues,” he said.
Delwar, however, gave no details of the sickness.
On Thursday night, Faruk Hossain, a doctor of the Emergency Department at Shaheed Ahsan Ullah Master General Hospital, referring to five inmates from the centre, said one of them came with diarrhoea.
The four others were suffering from fever, he added.
Upon the arrival of the five patients, Resident Medical Officer Tariq Hasan visited them.
At that time, Tarig told this correspondent that more details could be known once the patients were examined.
What caused the death?
About the death of Maruf after torture, Delwar said a three-member committee was formed to investigate the complaint.
The investigators, including the director of the CDC, inspected the centre on Thursday afternoon.
M Anwarul Karim, deputy director of the Directorate of Social Services, attesting to the death, said on Thursday: “I heard of more inmates falling sick.”
Previous deaths, rape at Tongi CDC
In June last year, a teenager died at the centre. On August 24, another inmate died at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital as he was allegedly denied immediate treatment by the CDC authorities.
In January 2022, a teenage boy was found dead at the CDC.
On December 16, a child was raped by the chief security officer at the CDC.
Dire straits
The centre has a capacity of 300 inmates but accommodates more than double that figure, resulting in personal hygiene and other medical-related problems among inmates.
The inmates previously alleged that they face severe itching problems on their bodies as they have to sleep in a congested room with 15 others at night and take baths with up to five other inmates.
CDC deaths are nothing new
Besides the one for boys in Tongi, there are two more CDCs: one in Konabari, Gazipur (for 150 girls), and the other in Jessore (for 150 boys).
On August 13, 2020, three inmates were killed and 15 injured in the Jessore JDC due to torture by its officials.
Several suicides were also reported in all three CDCs.
