❐ BD Digest Desk
A registration number is written on a piece of paper placed on the small body wrapped in a white shroud. The name Mahir, age 8 months, is written on the paper. The body was kept against the wall near the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Mahir’s body had been there since Friday morning.
Mahir died of measles and various post-measles complications at a private hospital in the capital on Thursday night. His body was then brought to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
At around 10:30 am on Saturday, Kamrul Ahmed, the funeral service officer of the private organization Anjuman Mufidul Islam, took the body to the Jurain Cemetery. He was supposed to be buried there as an unclaimed person. Earlier, Mahir’s address was the government’s Chotomani Nivas in Azimpur in the capital.
His head was much larger than his body when he was born. He came to this residence last January on the order of the Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Gazipur through Kashimpur Police Station.
Mahir’s body was so small that it didn’t even need a stretcher to be carried to the ambulance waiting in front of the emergency department. Anjuman Mufidul Islam’s career Md. Kismat walked with both hands on his lap.
When I went to the hospital in the morning, I saw that water was dripping from the AC on the floor. There was no refrigerator to store the body. There was a musty smell as there were a total of three bodies (one in a white packet) in the entire room. Tanzina Afrin, deputy superintendent of Chotomani Nibas, the institution’s office assistant Ayesha Begum and the hospital’s social service officer Mohsin Kabir were present during the handover of Mahir’s body.
While sorting out various documents, Ayesha Begum said that she has been working at the shelter since 2022. She has never seen so many children die in such a short period of time.
Deputy Superintendent Tanzina Afrin and Burial Service Officer Kamrul Ahmed completed signing the documents related to the handover of the body. Then the body was taken into the ambulance and placed in the back seat. The representatives of the residence left the hospital.
Kamrul Ahmed and Md. Kismat sat in the front seat of the ambulance. No relatives were there to take off the shroud and see Mahir’s face for the last time, to cry, or to sit and hug the body.
Tanzina Afrin, who has been on duty for a month, said that Mahir was first admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital with measles, pneumonia and respiratory problems. He was admitted there for about two months.
He was brought to the hospital on the afternoon of July 5. The next day, when complications arose again, he was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where the doctor recommended admission. After admission, on Thursday, July 9, he was told that he would need intensive care (ICU) if his oxygen levels dropped. He was then taken to the specialized ICU for measles at Cure Specialized Hospital in Tejgaon area. The child died there.
Later, he was brought to Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Friday morning.
Tanzina Afrin said that since no one had filed any complaint regarding Mahir’s death, various legal procedures had to be completed, including filing a general diary with Tejgaon Police Station, applying for the handover of the body without an autopsy, and informing Anjuman Mufidul Islam about the burial of the body.
Under the supervision of the government’s Department of Social Services, abandoned or trafficked children aged 0 to 7 years old, without parents identified, are raised in Chotomani Nivas. There are a total of six Chotomani Nivas, one each in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Khulna and Barisal.
Sameer Mallick, Director (Institutions) of the Department of Social Services, said that since the measles outbreak, a total of five children from the Azimpur home in Dhaka, including Mahir, have died of measles and various post-measles complications. At the moment, no other child from the home is hospitalized with measles-related complications. No child has died of measles in any other home either.
Citing various limitations including manpower shortage, Sameer Mallick said, “Children affected by measles have been treated in various hospitals. Efforts have been made to feed them nutritious food and keep them clean. Even then, it was not possible to save some of them.”
Authorities said that about 20 children from Chotomani Nibas in Azimpur have been admitted to various hospitals for treatment of measles, post-measles complications and chickenpox.
Muna was only 3 months and 18 days old. Her mother was mentally unstable. Muna died of measles and post-measles complications at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on June 22. Muna was born on March 5 in front of Faridpur Medical College Hospital. She was rescued on March 12.
On June 1, Prothom Alo newspaper published a report titled ‘Father in jail for murdering mother, little Khushboo’s body in morgue’. This was the story of Khushboo’s life, who died on the night of May 31st from measles and post-measles complications at the age of 9 months.
When Khushboo’s father went to prison after her mother was murdered, their 45-day-old daughter was not even named. No relatives were found to take care of her. By court order, the motherless child was placed in Chotomani Niwas, where she was named Khushboo.
Khushbu died at Bangladesh Children’s Hospital and Institute. Maria, another daughter of the murdered mother Taj Nahar, is 7 years old. On July 31 last year, the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court of Dhaka said in an order that to ensure the overall welfare and safety of Taj Nahar’s two daughters, Khushbu (a 45-day-old girl) will be sent to Chotomani Nibas and Maria to Tejgaon Government Children’s Home, and the probation officer will supervise the matter.
Khushbu was admitted to Shishu Hospital on May 10. She died on the night of May 31 while undergoing treatment in a special ICU for measles. On her death certificate, the name of Chotomani Nivas was written instead of her father’s name.
After Khushbu’s death, the body was cremated and a general diary was filed with the police station on the verbal order of the court. After the burial in the graveyard adjacent to the Rayerbazar Martyred Intellectuals Memorial on the court order, Anjuman Mufidul Islam marked the grave.
On April 30, another report titled ‘Little Arisha, who died of measles, will be buried as an heirless child’ was published in the same daily.
Arisha was a little over a year old. She died while undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital after contracting measles and pneumonia. Arisha’s death certificate also listed her name as a resident child in the address field. When Arisha was rescued from Pangsha in Rajbari and sent to Chotomani Niwas, she was about a month old.
Mehedi, who was just 5 months old, died on May 3 at the Infectious Diseases Hospital. The staff of the shelter said that he was rescued from the street and sent to the shelter when he was one day old. The child had been malnourished and sick since then. After that, he was admitted to the hospital repeatedly for measles and post-measles complications, but Mehedi could not be saved.
Since he also had no family or claimant, a police case was filed after his death as per the rules. The police investigated and submitted a report, after which he was buried as an heirless person.
Tanzina Afrin, the deputy superintendent of the home, said that with so many children of different ages in one place (currently there are 38 children in the home), it is very difficult to protect them from infectious diseases like measles. In addition to measles, these children also have other diseases, including scabies or itching.
The manpower shortage at the shelter is evident, yet maximum efforts are being made to save them. If they die, they have to be buried as heirs if there is no family or claimant according to the rules.
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