The child born at the time of her mother’s death under the wheels of a truck in Trishal of Mymensingh became one-day-old on Sunday.
Within just this one day, many people have shown interest in taking care of the newborn. However, the grandparents say, the birth of their granddaughter was a miracle and they themselves want to raise her.
On last Saturday afternoon, Jahangir Alam (42), his wife Ratna Begum (32) and their six-year-old daughter Sanjida from Raimoni village of Mymensingh’s Trishal upazila, died after being run over by a truck while crossing the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway at the court building area in Trishal.
According to the eye witnesses, while the truck was running over the body of Ratna Begum, the child came out of her womb.
Meanwhile, finding no place to bury them the parents and sister of the newborn were reportedly buried right in front of their house on Saturday night.
Visiting Raimoni village on Sunday morning, grandparents of the newborn Mostafizur Rahman and Sufia Begum were talked to. They said, they are poor but still they want to raise the child, even if they have to accept help from people.
The newborn even in mourning discussion
There was a crowd before three graves in Raimoni village on Sunday morning. The relatives of the newborn were crying incessantly. The bay born during a road crash was the talk even amidst the mourning discussions.
Sitting in front of her son Jahangir’s grave, Sufia Begum was wailing away. Jahngir’s elder daughter Jannat (10) and son Md Ebadat (8) were sitting right beside her. She kept muttering, “My son will never be back again.”
Jahangir’s father Mostafizur Rahman is physically disabled. He said, his son was a worker at a factory of Akij Group. Their family survived amid poverty. Following the death of their son, they are worried over the future of all three of their grandchildren. He added that he receives a monthly disability allowance of Tk 450. He had not been able to do any type of work for the past six years.
Village resident Md Alam said, “This is a rare incident not just for our village but for the whole country. We have been hurt by this incident yet we are happy for the baby survived. In whichever way possible, we all want to stand by the family.”
The newborn undergoing treatment at hospital
The newborn is now undergoing treatment at Labeeb hospital in Mymensigh city. The hospital owner Md Shahjahan is from the same village as Jahangir. He has been taking care of the baby since Saturday.
He was talked to during a visit to the hospital on Sunday noon. He said, “The newborn’s right hand has been plastered. She will have to undergo treatment for at least two more weeks."
Shahjahan said, nothing can be said yet about who will be raising the children in the end. Many are eager to take care of the child. But, the final decision will be taken by the grandparents.
The baby is under the supervision of physician Md Karuzzaman at the hospital. Kamruzzaman said to Prothom Alo, “She is quite fine now.”
How the baby was born
Professor Shila, head of the gynecology department at Mymensingh Community Based Medical College said to Prothom Alo, the eye witnesses might have thought the baby had burst out of the mother’s womb. But, according to medical science the possibility of that is very thin.
There was too much fear of the baby still inside the womb, being crushed under the wheels of the truck. To know whether the baby burst out of the womb for sure, it’s essential to know first whether her previous babies were born through normal deliveries or cesarean.
Truck driver was not arrested
Trishal police station members said police seized the truck after the accident but the driver escaped. The driver or owner of the truck could not be identified till Sunday.
Maeen Uddin, officer-in-charge of Trishal police station said, “We will identify the driver and owner of the truck with the help of BRTA. In this regard, an application will be submitted at the BRTA office within the fastest possible time.”