Girl dies 49 days after hot water was poured on her as she slept in Sonargaon; case to become murder
Afrin Akter, a 13-year-old girl from Mangalergaon Kandapara village in Pirojpur Union of Sonargaon upazila in Narayanganj, has died. She died on Friday afternoon, 49 days after hot water was poured over her body while she was asleep.
According to the allegation, on the afternoon of 25 September, Rawshan Ara and the other members of the family were out of the house. Afrin was sleeping alone at home at the time. Her aunt Sonia Akter allegedly took that opportunity, entered the room and poured hot water over her body. Her waist and several other parts of her body were badly scalded.
Neighbours rushed in on hearing Afrin's screams and rescued her. She was then admitted to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka. After being treated there for about a month, she was brought home last week. Her condition, however, did not improve after returning home, and she died on Friday afternoon.
Police and local residents said Rawshan Ara of Mangalergaon Kandapara village had a long-running land dispute with her younger brother Zakir Hossain, and the two families quarrelled frequently over it. Rawshan Ara alleged that her brother's wife Sonia Akter had threatened to kill them on various occasions.
Afrin's mother Rawshan Ara said the dispute with her brother Zakir and sister-in-law Sonia had arisen over land and a lost mobile phone, and that hot water was poured on her daughter because of those disputes. She demanded the maximum punishment for those involved in her daughter's death.
Rawshan Ara filed a case with Sonargaon Police Station over the incident. Three accused named in the case are currently in jail.
Sonargaon Police Station officer-in-charge Mohammad Abdul Barique said police had arrested three people in the case of scalding the girl with hot water and that they were in jail. Following Afrin's death, the case will be converted into a murder case. Operations will be carried out swiftly to arrest the other accused.
