Court dismisses father’s case plea against Yunus, Nurjahan over daughter’s death from measles

The court has dismissed the case as it says there were insufficient grounds to take cognisance of it

A Dhaka court has dismissed an application seeking to file a case against former interim government chief advisor Muhammad Yunus, health advisor Nurjahan Begum, and two others over the alleged death of a young girl due to negligence in measles treatment.

On Sunday, Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jashita Islam rejected the application.

Court bench assistant Ashutosh Bhowmik said, “The court dismissed the application as it found no grounds to take cognisance of the case.”

The application was filed on Jul 5 by Sirajul Islam, the father of nine-month-old Sauda Nuskan, who died after contracting measles. The court recorded the complainant’s statement that morning and kept the order pending before announcing that it would deliver its decision on Jul 12.

In addition to Yunus and Nurjahan, the complaint also sought to name former Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services Prof Md Abu Jafor and former chief advisor’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam as accused.

According to the complaint, Sauda, a 9-month-old infant from Shariatpur Sadar, developed a severe fever in late February or early March. When local treatment proved ineffective, she was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital during the first week of March. Alleging that she did not receive the necessary treatment for measles there, her family said she was transferred to the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Mohakhali on Mar 22.

The complaint further alleged negligence and lack of cooperation by doctors and nurses at the hospital. It claimed that on Mar 26, medical staff handed an oxygen cylinder to the child’s mother and instructed her to administer oxygen to the baby. When she was unable to do so, a hospital cleaner was asked to place the oxygen mask on the child. About two hours later, the infant died.

The application also alleged that delayed vaccine supplies, the failure of hospital authorities to take appropriate measures, and what it described as the interim government’s “gross negligence and mismanagement” in procuring and administering vaccines had resulted in the deaths of more than 600 children across the country, including Sauda.

It argued that the accused could not evade responsibility for those deaths, stating that despite holding the highest positions in the state, they failed to take effective steps to prevent measles-related child deaths. The complaint maintained that they should therefore be held liable for negligence and punished under the applicable laws.

Previously, several similar applications seeking cases against Yunus, Nurjahan, and others on comparable allegations had also been dismissed by courts in Dhaka.