The agonising wait of a daughter

Bhuban Chandra Shil made a video call to his wife before leaving his office on Monday night, wishing to see their only daughter's face, but failed to do so as she was asleep.

Bhuban, a 55-year-old lawyer, lived in the capital for work, while his family stayed back in Noakhali's Maizdi.

Now, the shell-shocked daughter, Bhumika Chandra Shil, sits alongside her mother, Ratna Rani Shil, on a hospital staircase, waiting for her father to regain consciousness so that he can see her face once more.

Bhuban, who lived alone in a hostel in Motijheel's Arambagh area, was shot on his way back home from work that night.

A stray bullet hit his head when he was passing the Tejgaon industrial area on a motorbike.

Criminals fired at and stabbed Tariq Sayeed Mamun, 54, a suspect in the film actor Sohel Chowdhury murder case, and one of their bullets hit Bhuban, according to police.

He was immediately taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Bhuban was shifted to Dhanmondi Popular Hospital later that night, where he has been on life support for the past three days.

During a visit to Popular Hospital yesterday afternoon, this correspondent saw Ratna and her recently SSC-passed daughter Bhumika sitting on the stairs, looking downhearted and hopeless.

Ratna, a high school teacher, is ensure whether her husband will be able to regain consciousness, and the doctors have given them no hope.

"Maybe there is no one as unfortunate as my husband. He was just passing by, and suddenly, he was shot in the head. Even the doctors cannot say if he will survive," said Ratna while tears rolled down her face.

Bhuvan worked as a legal consultant for Gumti Textiles Limited, a company with its office in Gulshan.

This correspondent tried to speak to Bhumika. However, she couldn't utter a word as she was still in shock. She just kept on praying for her father's recovery.

Despite assurances from Bhuvan's employer that the expenses of his treatment would be covered, his family members are struggling to meet his highly expensive medical bills.

Ratna's brother, Tapas Majumdar, who has constantly been in touch with the doctors, said over Tk 50,000 is being spent daily to keep Bhuban on life support.

Stating that his brother-in-law has no savings, Tapas said, "We are currently paying the hospital bills by borrowing, but I don't see any possibility of getting a loan from anyone in the coming days. I'm not sure how we'll continue his treatment."

Ratna expressed her anger over the role of law enforcement agencies, saying, "An incident like that occurred on a public road, an innocent man suffered such a fate, but no one from the government even inquired about him."

Contacted, neurosurgeon Prof Kanak Kanti Barua, who has been supervising Bhuban's treatment, said, "The bullet is still stuck on the back side of his brain. Our first priority is to stabilise his condition before proceeding with further treatment."