Seriously injured domestic help dies

Upon hearing that her 11-year-old daughter was hospitalised with malaria, Salma Begum rushed from Mymensingh to Dhaka Medical College Hospital on May 24. But what she saw shocked her.

“She was lying unconscious, her hand and leg broken. There were burns on her back,” Salma said.

Until yesterday Salma's only comfort was her daughter Hasina Aktar had been breathing. Yesterday morning, the girl opened her eyes but only to bid farewell to her mother forever.

Hasina, a domestic help, fought for life for seven days. She was hospitalised on May 20.

“We had been waiting to see her regain consciousness. Yesterday morning my girl opened her eyes. But that was her last…,” Salma said, her voice choked with tears.

Hasina, daughter of Abdus Sobhan of Dhobaura of Mymensingh, worked as a domestic help at one Shariful Islam's house of Kathpatti of Mohammadpur Town Hall in the capital.

Sources said one Abdur Razzak admitted Hasina to the hospital at 3:30am on May 20, with injuries in the head, face and other parts of the body.

Salma said, “I worked at Shariful's house for one month.... I fell sick and gave my elder daughter in my place.”

She said her husband was a street vendor and unable to earn enough, so the family returned to Mymensingh on April 25.

“We also wanted to take Hasina with us but they [the employer] didn't allow. They assured us that Hasina will be relieved from job after Eid-ul-Fitr with a good amount of money,” she said.

Sub-inspector Mofazzal Hossain of Mohammadpur Police Station said following allegations of the victim's mother, they raided the flat on May 25 but found no one.

Quoting neighbours, he said Shariful along with his family left the flat two to three days before the raid. A case was filed, he added.

An autopsy of the body will be conducted today, said DMC morgue sources.