Infant dies from fall during Dhaka rickshaw mugging

A 5-month-old infant has died after falling from a moving rickshaw as muggers attempted to snatch the mother’s purse in Dhaka’s Doyaganj.

The incident occurred around 6am on Monday on the eastern side of the Doyaganj rail tracks, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Wari Division Additional Deputy Commissioner Nurul Amin.

Aklima and her son Arafat were headed to her sister’s house on a rickshaw when muggers attempted to snatch her purse, which caused the infant to fall to the ground.

Arafat was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital or DMCH in critical condition, where doctors declared him dead, said.

Aklima told reporters at the hospital that they lived in the southern district of Sariatpur.

She had come to Dhaka with her husband in the morning for treatment of her elder son Alamin.

After landing at the Sadarghat, they headed for her sister Maksuda’s home in Shanir Akhra on a rickshaw, when muggers tried to snatch her purse.

“The child had wounds on his head and face,” said DMCH police camp’s Sub-Inspector Bachchu Mia.

Police believe multiple perpetrators were involved in the mugging but have yet to make any arrests, said senior officer Nurul Amin.