Unwanted!
Baby girl dies after father, who 'wanted a boy, sets her on fire'
A nine-month-old baby girl died of burn wounds in Narayanganj yesterday, five days after her father allegedly set her on fire out of frustration that his first child was not a boy.
The victim is Jannatul of the district's Sonargaon upazila.
A complaint was filed with Sonargaon Police Station last evening in this regard.
Electrician Jahirul Islam, father of the victim, married Kulsum Begum last year, said Sazia Begum, Kulsum's mother.
He was enraged over the birth of the girl because he wanted a boy, she said. “There was always a feud over this before he set his daughter on fire on July 30.”
According to the complaint, Jahirul used petrol to do this and he did not take the girl to a hospital, which led to the infant's death.
Kulsum Begum told The Daily Star that her husband was a drug addict and used to abuse her frequently.
She demanded justice for the “murder” of her daughter.
Sonargaon Police Station Inspector Sheikh Mofizul Islam recovered the body of the baby and sent it to Narayanganj General Hospital for an autopsy.
Officer-in-Charge Morshed Alam said the complaint was accepted, and police were trying to arrest the accused and his family members, all of whom were absconding.