Rajshahi safe home 'unsafe'
An outbreak of diarrhoea has hit Rajshahi Safe Home, killing one woman and affecting at least 41 others, in the last five days due to unhygienic environment.
It happened because of the mingling of the sewerage and water lines, said an inspection team.
The team, led by Dr Ashish Kumar Saha, director of Rajshahi Divisional Health Office, has found unhealthy condition in the kitchen, toilet, and water supply lines.
The lines were faulty and dangerous for public health, and should be replaced immediately, said an inspection report signed by Dr Saha.
The district administration, assisted by the divisional health directorate, arranged constant monitoring of diarrhoea patients and other inmates by three doctors since the outbreak on October 19.
The team of Dr Saha visited the safe home along with the Rajshahi civil surgeon, health officials, and doctors on Saturday.
“They are living a life of neglect and deprivation. For different reasons… the institute has turned into a death trap instead of being a shelter,” he said.
In a one-page report on the safe home, Dr Saha wrote that it had no trained manpower to provide services to the disabled persons under custody.
The divisional health chief recommended immediate replacement of faulty water and sewerage lines, said the report, a copy of which was obtained by The Daily Star.
Two committees -- one of three members, headed by Rajshahi Civil Surgeon Ferdous Nilufar and the other of five members of IEDCR (Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research), led by Dr Ahmed Raihan Sharif -- are investigating the outbreak.
Poba upazila health officer Dr Rezaul Haque said the normal inmates were living together with disabled ones, most of whom were mentally ill. He said they were eating and urinating and defecating at the same place. “It's horrible to see.”
Abu Taher, an official at the Department of Social Services in Rajshahi, who is doing the additional duty of the safe home's deputy superintendent, said the safe home was now housing 110 inmates, 56 of them disabled, against its capacity for 50 persons and a monthly allocation for Tk 2,500 per head.
“We have no problems but two -- infrastructure and manpower,” said Taher. A new building cannot be used for lack of security and it is being occupied by staff, and they have only five staff -- one aya, one cook and his assistant, a sweeper and a guard -- against 13 posts, he said.
He said he was not aware that the sewerage line got mingled with the water line.
A 25-year-old victim of gang-rape, known as Minoti, "died of diarrhoea" on October 20, and at least 30 "affected" people were admitted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH), while 11 are being treated at the safe home.
Among the 30, all but 13 were released and condition of the others is improving, said RMCH Director Brig Gen Rafikul Islam.
This correspondent visited the safe home twice on Monday.
In one visit, he saw insects crawling around sticky yellow and watery substances spread across the floor, while someone was sitting nearby.
Victims of rape, torture and other cases who have no place to stay safe, and underage criminals are kept at the government-run safe home, said Dil Sitara Begum Chuni, Rajshahi divisional chief of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA), adding, “Such inmates deserve intensive care.”
National Human Rights Commission Chairman Mizanur Rahman visited the safe home on June 22, 2014 and said it was not children-friendly.
“There was nobody responsible for understanding the language of the hopeless people,” he said at that time.
A child went missing on January 26, 2014 and another two on August 25, 2004.
A 12-year child was raped in the safe home in late 2013, and she died later.
In December 2012, some inmates demonstrated demanding improved and regular diet at the safe home.