Infant dies 3 weeks after thrown from 4th floor

The newborn baby, who initially survived a fourth-floor fall in the capital on February 1, died yesterday.

The boy died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where he was undergoing treatment, around 12:30pm, Assistant Director (Admin) Khawja Abdul Gofur of the hospital told The Daily Star.

The baby was first fed through tube but as his condition deteriorated, he was given saline, he said.

"He contracted Septicemia, a type of blood infection."

Wrapped up in a plastic shopping bag, the newborn was dropped, allegedly by the mother, through the window of a fourth-floor flat on Bailey Road hours after his birth.

The 15-year-old mother, who works for an elderly couple, delivered the out-of-wedlock child in her employer's house in the morning with the help of a fellow domestic worker, according to police.

The baby fell on the roof of a nearby tin-shade shop. The impact broke his legs and injured the head. A video showing the rescue of the child went viral on social media.

The teenage domestic help got pregnant after her brother-in-law had raped her in Comilla, Officer-in-charge Mashiure Rahman of Ramna Police station had told this correspondent after the incident.

She wanted to get rid of the baby in fear of social stigma, he had said, quoting the girl's mother.