A 20-year-old woman, Tania Akter, has passed away from severe burn injuries following a tragic family feud in the capital’s Sutrapur, taking the death toll from the horrific arson incident to three.
Tania breathed her last at around 6:45pm on Friday while undergoing treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery. Resident Physician Dr Sultan Mahmud of the Burn Institute, confirmed her death, saying that she had sustained 60 per cent burns across her body.
Her demise follows the death of her uncle, Siddique Bepari, 60, who suffered 35 per cent burns and died at around 2:15am on Thursday late night at the same institute. Siddique Bepari passed away following the earlier death of his son, Md Imon, 26.
Currently, two other burn victims—Rajib, 38, with 15 per cent burns and Arifur Rahman Dhalu, 35, (also referred to as Arif) with 8 per cent burns—remain admitted at the facility.
Sequence of events and dispute
The tragedy took place at approximately 4:30 pm on Saturday, in the Shyam Bazar Chamaktuli area of Sutrapur. The five individuals burnt in the incident were Siddique Bepari, 60, his son Md Imon, 26, nephew Rajib, 38, nephew Arifur Rahman Dhalu, 35, and niece Tania Akter, 20.
According to Sonia Akter, wife of victim Arifur Rahman Dhalu, the conflict stemmed from a quarrel over their ancestral property in Shyam Bazar Chamaktuli, where all the victims reside side by side.
Detailing the family background, she mentioned that Md Imon was a Saudi Arabia expatriate, Rajib works as a mechanic at National Hospital, Dhalu is an electrician, and Tania was an Honours student at Women’s College in Old Dhaka.
Sonia explained that the day prior to the incident, Imon’s sister, Sultana, had left dirty water accumulated in front of the house. Seeing the stagnant water, Tania requested Sultana to clean it up, triggering an argument between the two women. Sultana subsequently reported the quarrel to her brother Imon, who returned to Bangladesh from Saudi Arabia the day before the attack.
On the afternoon of Saturday, Imon threatened the family members, shouting, “I will die, and I will kill you all too.” He then poured petrol over himself, splashed petrol on the others, and set fire to everyone present. All five victims suffered extensive burns and were immediately rushed to the Burn Institute.
