Farjana's treatment stops

Farjana lost much of her family in an attack on the Kalshi Bihari camp. Her father died in a mysterious road accident on Sep 6. Now she is denied medical treatment to fix her burnt skin because it is too expensive for her uncle and aunt to bear.

To graft the skin of her injured hand will cost around Tk 70,000.

Farjana's uncle and aunt, who lead a hand-to-mouth existence, say they can't manage that.

On Oct 6, on the day of Eid, bdnews24.com talked to Farjana's relatives at her aunt's place in Mohammadpur and checked on her ongoing medical treatment.

Farjana was watching special Eid programmes on TV with her cousins, with the joy of the celebrations all around

But the moment she looked at the family photo hanging on the wall, she turned visibly sad.

Before meeting his tragic end in a road accident, her father Yasin Ali was bearing the cost of Farjana's medical treatment.

She had sustained fifteen percent burns during the Kalshi camp attack.

But on Sept 6, Yasin Ali, a barber by profession, died in a road accident on way to Kalabagan to buy ointment for Farjana. That was a day before the case was to come up in court.

Her aunt Shahida Begum and uncle Md Aslam now look after Farjana.

Aslam works as an assistant in a barber shop. Aslam and Shahida also have three school-going daughters.

Running the family and bearing the cost of Farjana's treatment is taxing the family's meager resources.

Neither the administration nor the community leaders have come forward to help Farjana.

Aslam told bdnews24.com, "Earlier, I had three daughters; now I have four. Despite having a little bit of hardship, I'm bearing Farjana's treatment expenses with the help of relatives.

"A Surgeon of a private hospital told me skin grafting on Farjana's hand would cost around Tk 70,000. That is a bit too much. No one from the government or any community leader has given us any kind of monetary assistance."

File Photo

Moreover, a huge sum of money is also needed for Farjana's routine medical care. "Just a tube of ointment costs Tk 1,300 and it lasts only two days," says Farjana's aunt.

Due to her burns, the fifth grader of UCEP School in Mirpur has stopped going to her classes. Her uncle and aunt said, "She will go back once she gets well."

On June 14, a dispute over firecrackers provoked a mob of locals to attack the Kalshi Bihari camp that left 10 dead.

Nine of those who died are Farjana's family members. The local Bihari community blamed the ruling Awami League MP Ilyas Uddin Mollah for the attack.

Six cases, including a murder case by police, were filed over the killings.

However, the Biharis have not yet filed any case over the attack.