Court orders reinvestigating student's death

A Dhaka court yesterday ordered the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to reinvestigate an allegation of wrong treatment of disease resulting in the death of a college student at a hospital in the capital's Uttara.

Sharmin Sarker, a student of Gazipur Government Women's College, died when undergoing treatment at Uttra Adhunik Hospital on June 13 last year.

Metropolitan Magistrate Sazzadur Rahman passed the order after Sharmin's mother Sufia Sarker filed a no-confidence (naraji) petition against a probe report submitted by Uttara police on October 12 the same year.

Saying that the charges brought against four doctors of the hospital were not proved, police appealed to the court to relieve the accused of the charges.

Following the incident, Sufia's mother filed a case with with Uttara (west) Police Station against Prof Dr Firoz Ahmed, head of the ENT department of the hospital, and assistant professors Dr Abul Hossain and MA Karim of the Department of Anesthesia, and Dr Faizul Islam Chowdhury, a junior consultant of the same department.

In the case statement, Sufia alleged that Sharmin was admitted to Uttra Adhunik Hospital in the capital on May 30 for treatment of a cyst in her tongue under the supervision of Prof Dr Firoz Ahmed and died on June 13 in wrong treatment.